A Malfoys Curse
by Goth1cPr1nc3ss
Summary: Draco has a curse. All the male Malfoys line had it. He only finds out after his mother finds out about him and a certain girlfriend of his. Will he able to fight the curse or will he surrender to it? What does Hermione have to do with it?HGDM, RWPP, HPOC
1. Chapter One

A/N: Hey everyone! Hope you like this story, I just had a sudden inspiration to write something like this. Enjoy reading!

Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own it. I'm not British, Rich, or Bonde. Try Aussie, broke and Brunette. Sorry to disappoint you.

**A Malfoy Curse**

* * *

Draco's Crush

Harry and the Weasley's made their way to Platform 9 and ¾'s in record time, they had ten minutes left until the train left the station.

As soon as they got through the barrier, Hermione could be seen rushing towards them.

'Harry! Ron! Ginny!' She called. She ran up and gave them all huge hugs and took them straight over to the train where she had already got them a compartment.

'Harry, you and I have to go now over to the prefect carriage, they're having their meeting in a couple of minutes.' She told him after they had put their stuff into the compartment.

'Sure, Ron, can you tell Mrs. Weasley that I say goodbye and that I have to go immediately to the prefect carriage?' Harry asked his best mate.

'Yeah, sure. Come on Gin, we better go out and say our goodbye's now. See you later.' Ron said and him and Ginny left the carriage and went to find Mrs. Weasley to say goodbye.

'Come on Harry!' Hermione said. She was very impatient at Harry taking so long to hurry up.

'Hermione, calm down, we're not going to be late. I know you like being there fifteen minutes early, but that is not going to happen now.' Harry said, trying to calm her down a bit.

'I know, but I'm excited and scared at the same time, and let's go already, I'm getting more nervous by the second!' Hermione cried. She was shaking with anticipation rather badly.

'Okay, let's go.' Harry rejected.

'Thank you.' Hermione said, she sounded very exasperated and started to almost run down the corridor of the carriage to get to the next one where the prefects carriage was.

When they got there, nearly everyone was there apart from the Slytherin prefects. They went up to Hannah Abbott and Ernie McMillan and started to talk to them. Hermione had calmed down a little by now and was no longer shaking.

A couple of minutes later, the Slytherins showed up. Of course, they were Pansy Parkinson and Draco Malfoy.

'Great, now everyone's here, we can start.' The seventh year Head Boy shouted over everyone else talking. His shout brought everyone's attention. 'Now, when we get to Hogwarts, we have to be the first one's out to open the doors for the other students. But during the train ride, we will have to go on patrols. Gryffindor, your first patrol up and down the train. You go twice, starting from here, the head of the train, right down to the end. At the end of it, you must come go and find the next people who are doing the patrol after you.'

'They are the Slytherins.' Announced the seventh year Head Girl. 'You have go find the Slytherins, who are. . . Draco and Pansy.' She said looking at the clipboard she had in her hands. 'You two have to go and find the Hufflepuffs after you have finished, they are Hannah and Ernie, then they have to go and find the Ravenclaws, Padma Patil and Terry Boot. Now, when we get into Hogwarts, after we've had the feast, you have to call over the first-years and take them to your Common Rooms. The slip I'm handing out now has you password on it.' With that, she passed out the slips to each of the pairs and went back up to the front. 'Please do not loose these or give them to another pair to read, tell only the people in your house when and if you see them, but tell them discreetly. You may go now and Gryffindor may start their patrol.' She concluded.

Harry and Hermione waited back a little bit to make sure everyone left. As Draco went passed them, he accidentally bumped into Hermione. 'Sorry Granger.' He mumbled, but just that mumble made Hermione stand still with a confused expression on her face. As soon as Draco and everyone else had left the compartment, Hermione turned to Harry.

'Did you hear what Malfoy said to me?' She asked, still a little in shock.

'No, but is it something I have to hit him for?' Harry said angrily.

'No, he bumped me a bit in the arm and he said sorry.' Hermione answered.

'What?' Harry was utterly confused. Malfoy says sorry to no one. Usually he said, 'watch where you're going!' or, 'get out of the way!' Not sorry, considering he thought he was better than everyone else.

'You must have heard wrong. Draco Malfoy never says sorry.' Harry explained as they walked out into the corridor to start their patrol.

'I know, that's what I thought, but I heard him loud and clear, he said 'Sorry Granger.' I'm not joking.' Hermione said.

On their patrol, they only confiscated a few things and told any Gryffindor that would pass by them the new password. After finishing, they went to find where Pansy and Draco were hiding.

'Where do you think they are? Slytherin always stay in the one carriage, don't they? Should be easy to find them.' Harry said. They made their way to the Slytherin carriage and found Malfoy and Parkinson sitting in the compartment right down the very end.

'I'll go in and tell them, I handle them better than you do.' Harry teased.

'Ha ha Harry. Aren't I usually the one telling you and Ron to cool off when Malfoy baits you?' Hermione reminded him.

'Yeah, well, it's a male thing, Hermione, you might get it someday.' Harry said, opening the door to the compartment.

'Hopefully never.' Hermione muttered under her breathe and leaned against the wall on the opposite side of the compartment.

'Ever heard of knocking, Potter?' Malfoy drawled.

'Ever heard of being nice, Malfoy? What am I saying, of course not. Your turn for patrol, we're done.' Harry answered, leaning against the door frame and just showing Hermione in the background.

Harry looked around the room at the people in it. The usually crowd were here, Zabini, Crabbe, Goyle, Parkinson, but then, Harry spotted another girl, roughly the same age. sitting on the other side of Malfoy that looked incredibly like him, apart from the eyes; she had beautiful Amber drops for eyes, and soft, wavy, shiny and silky bright blonde hair. He also noticed her soft pale lips and wondered what it would like to kiss them. _Stop it Harry! She's probably a Slytherin! Keep your head out of it!_ Harry kept his eyes on her for a while, but as soon as she caught his eye, he turned his head back to Malfoy and avoided her penetrating gaze.

Hermione caught Malfoy's eye and he instantly stood up, that meant the Pansy was knocked off of him, for she was resting her head on his lap.

'Well, come on Pansy, we have terrorizing little first-years to do.' Draco drawled, he sounded rather flushed by his sudden movement and Pansy was looking at him like he was going crazy.

'Yes, let's go, Draco.' She said slowly, eyeing him off. As they left the compartment, Hermione caught his eye again and gave him a suspicious look. Harry shut the compartment door and looked at Hermione quizzically.

'What was that all about?' He asked cautiously.

'As soon as he caught my eye in there he stood up so suddenly that even I jumped a little out here.' Hermione said, still a little scared by what had just happened.

'That was you? I wondered why he did that. Usually he'd say something like, "I'll do it when I feel like it, Potter." He's been acting rather strange around you lately.' Harry mused.

'You sound like you think he fancies me.' Hermione accused.

'I do think that. For one reason,' Harry added quickly, 'because he's never nice to anyone in Gryffindor, let alone someone of your blood type.'

'That part scares me a little as well. I'm muggleborn, why would he even think about talking to me?' She mused.

'That is my exact question, although I still think he likes you.' Harry added as they walked back to their compartment. Hermione just rolled her eyes.

Meanwhile, Parkinson and Malfoy were having nearly the same conversation.

'What's going on with you and Granger?' Parkinson asked him suspiciously.

'Absolutely nothing Pansy, now stop it.' Malfoy answered. He started to a little red around the collar and Parkinson knew she had him.

'You do! You like that filthy little mudblood!' She said. She was now walking backwards facing him so she could easily see his facial expressions.

'Don't call her that!' He snapped, but suddenly realised what he said and his eyes went wide for a moment before schooling his expression back to normal. Pansy's eyes went wide too, but a huge smile had appeared on her face.

'That explains everything! Wait until the school finds out about this!' She cackled.

'I forbid you to tell anyone! Especially not Potter and Weaselbee. They'll have a field day.' Malfoy muttered. But Pansy was having just as much as they would have. Running up and down the corridors teasing him about children and marriages and all that kind of stuff. By the end, Malfoy was getting incredibly sick of it.

'Shut up would you! Who says she even likes me back, keep your head in and voice down before I take it from you!' Malfoy shouted at her. She came back up to him silently, but was still giggling softly to herself as new thoughts about him and Hermione sprung up in her head.

'This is classic.' She muttered.

'Oh shut up.' He mumbled angrily.

Back in Hermione and Harry's compartment, Harry was telling Ron about what happened in the prefect carriage and in Malfoy's compartment, but conveniently left out the part about the extremely pretty blonde.

'You mean you think that Malfoy likes Hermione? What! No bloody way would _Malfoy_ like a Gryffindor.' Ron said shaking his head.

'Just imagine what the Slytherins are going to say once they find out!' Harry said excitedly.

'One more thing, before you guys go on a tangent about me, let's talk about Harry, I seem to remember seeing him stare at a pretty blonde Slytherin that looked a hell of a lot like Malfoy himself if you ask me.' Hermione sat back in her chair and looked thoroughly pleased with herself, but that just turned out wrong for her because Ron started asking how pretty she was, what she looked like and whether Harry knew her name. She put her head back exasperatedly and gave a huge sigh. A little while later, they started talking about Quidditch and Hermione took one of her books out and started to read it. She had never taken a fancy to Quidditch the way the boys did.

After about twenty minutes, they saw Malfoy and Parkinson walk past. Harry gave Hermione a smug little smile, while Ron looked rather disgusted and she gave them death glares. But outside, Pansy was thinking of a clever plan.

'You go on; I have to tie up my shoes.' She called, while with her other foot, sliding the shoelace out to untie it.

'Sure, don't get any clever ideas though.' Draco said, walking on but he kept looking back at her and making sure she wasn't doing anything stupid. When she was sure he wasn't looking, she did up her laces quickly and backtracked to Harry and Ron's compartment. She looked back to check he wasn't still watching her and opened the compartment door, letting herself in.

'What do you wan,t Parkinson?' Hermione asked boredly, putting down her book and staring daggers at the other girl.

'Just wanted to tell you that a certain Slytherin has taken interest in you.' She said slyly.

'Well are you going to tell me who?' Hermione asked, determinedly wishing in her mind that it wasn't Malfoy.

Pansy looked out of the compartment.

'Speak of the Devil.' She said, quickly shutting the door behind her and leaning against it, smirking.

Draco came over to the door and pounded on it.

'Pansy! Get out here and help me with Patrol!' He called at her. Pansy cackled as she watched Hermione go bright red and wide-eyed staring at Draco behind the door.

'Well, see you around Granger.' She said still cackling and opened the door behind her to get out of the compartment.

'What did you do?' Draco demanded when she came out.

'Oh nothing, just planted ideas into their heads.' Pansy said smugly and walking off to find the Hufflepuffs.

'You told them, didn't you?' He demanded again, walking after her, still able to hear the eruption of laughter that had come out of the compartment.

'No, as I said, I planted ideas, I didn't tell them outright. Though I did say speak of the Devil right before you came to the door, so I guess that gave it away.' She mused to herself. Then, seeing Draco's face, ran off down the corridor with him chasing after.

Back in the compartment, Hermione was in even more shock the she was before. And the boys weren't helping in the slightest.

'Harry, you are one amazing guesser!' Ron yelled when he caught his breathe after laughing so hard.

'Thank you, always knew I was.' Harry answered after catching his own breathe. Then they started laughing again. Hermione couldn't say anything; she was still wide-eyed at find out about the truth why Malfoy was acting the way he did. For the rest of the trip she remained silently reading her book until it was time to get changed. She sent the boys to get changed somewhere else and quickly got into her Hogwarts robes. When they came back, Hermione took Harry and they stationed themselves beside the doors to open them when the time came.


	2. Chapter Two

A/N: Here's the next chapter for all those who like the story! R&R!

Disclaimer: You guessed it, I don't own anything. JKR does. Damn her. I want it!

The Carriage Ride.

When they pulled up at the station, they did what they had to do and went to find Ron. They strained their ears for the sound of Hagrid's bellow to the first-years but only heard Professor Grubbly-plank's call.

'What happened to Hagrid?' Harry asked Hermione. She just shook her head and kept walking around to find Ron. They found him shortly after with Fred and George helping him with their stuff as well as their own.

'Thanks guys. We owe you.' Harry said when they got up to them.

'Nothing doing, we're glad to help our friends.' Fred said, waving away what Harry said and handing back Hedwig's cage to him and his trunk.

'Yeah, you don't owe us anything.' George answered. With that, he handed Hermione back Crookshanks and her trunk and they both walked off to find Lee Jordan. They waited for the next carriage to come for them and the found themselves waiting with Pansy, Malfoy and the strange new girl that Harry had taken a fancy to. Hermione spotted them first and turned around so quickly she hit Harry in the side of his face with her hair.

'Hey, what was that for?' He asked, then he saw Hermione's face and turned around. He caught sight of Malfoy turned back to choke on his hand.

'What's up mate?' Ron asked, thumping him on the back.

'Malfoy.' Harry mouthed at him, and Ron sneaked a look behind him too and his face turned red with anger and disgust. Hermione threw both dirty looks and looked down the way to see another carriage coming, but the other three got there quicker. Malfoy was looking at the ground and Pansy was silently snickering, while the other girl just stared confusedly at Malfoy and shot quizzical looks at Pansy.

'What's wrong, Draco? You look scared or something.' She asked.

Harry heard her voice and thought that he had just heard an angel. Her voice was soft and sweet. He went wide-eyed and looked at Ron. He had wide eyes too at the beautiful sound coming out of the girls' mouth. Hermione rolled her eyes and got into the carriage with her stuff, for it had just turned up.

'I'm fine. Ask _her_ about it when we get into the castle.' Draco muttered. Harry and Ron choked back a gag and stuffed their hands back into their mouths. Because of this, Harry almost dropped Hedwig, making her hoot indignantly at him.

'Sorry, Hedwig.' Harry whispered to her. He poked his finger into the cage to stroke her feathers but she moved away from him and turned her back to him.

Ron and Harry helped her with her trunk and they all got their stuff in one side of the carriage. The others got their stuff in the other side and sat quietly, apart from the small snickers coming from Harry and Pansy. Harry patted Hermione's arm and fought the smile that was burning to come onto his face. She looked at him and gave a small smile before turning to look back out the window.

Hedwig still wasn't talking to Harry, so he decided to try giving her owl treats.

'Hey Ron, hold Hedwig for me will you?' He asked, putting her onto his lap.

'Yeah sure.' Hedwig shot daggers at Pig with her eyes and turned her back on him too.

'Hedwig doesn't like anyone today, does she?' Ron asked as Harry tried to fish some owl treats out of his trunk.

'Nope, she's been in a bad mood ever since I left Uncle Vernon's. Won't talk to anyone. Mind you everyone's tried. She's also too arrogant when it comes to behaving in front of Pig. Whenever I get a letter from you he's flying around all over the place, then I send a letter back by Hedwig 'cause Pig's on my bed resting, she acts like it's a big deal.' Harry said, finding the owl treats and pulling them out. 'But it's better to have her on your side than not, 'cause she bites hard, not her usual nibble, but she nearly took my finger off once when I wouldn't let her out hunting. Wouldn't talk to me for days, or look at me either. Here you go, and get over it.' Harry told her, giving her an owl treat and taking her back from Ron.

'You know, she might be behaving badly because some creatures aren't treating her nicely.' Hermione added.

'Uncle Vernon's never nice to her, if he had it his way she'd never leave the house. But since third year he's been giving me a lot more leeway. For obvious reasons of course.' Harry told her.

'I'm not talking about your Uncle. I'm talking about a certain _creature_.' Hermione said, emphasizing creature.

'Him? Nah. He's not allowed within ten feet of my room unless I'm in there with him. Unless he wants to be fed to the thing in snuffles room. And trust me, he'd feed him to it.' Harry said.

'If snuffles touches a hair on that poor things head I swear-' Hermione began.

'You'll what? Tell him to rack off? He owns him Hermione, whatever snuffles tells him to do he does it, no point arguing with him about it. I rather agree with him on it. Evil little devil he is. Deserves to be fed to it.' Harry said. Ron laughed a little and Hermione shot him a filthy look.

'Harry, that's murder if he does that and you know it. And I will argue the point with him during the holidays. Snuffles is horrid to the poor thing.' Hermione said and turned her back to him.

'Great, now my owl and my friend don't like me. But I'm telling you Hermione, he deserves it.'

'The same way snuffles deserves to be punished for coming to the platform with you today too? What do you have to say about that, Harry?' Hermione shot back at him.

'He didn't do anything wrong, Hermione, he wanted to see me off, that's all. And plus, he gave me something that he couldn't give me at home with Mrs. Weasley around. Sorry Ron, but your mum is a little overprotective of me.' He added to Ron.

'Hey, no problem. She knows you don't have a mum so she pretty much adopted you.' Ron said.

'Are you talking about that dog that was at the platform with you, Potter?' Malfoy asked.

'Yeah, what about him?' Harry asked.

'It's just, father and I saw him and father was giving him dirty looks the whole time. I asked him why and he wouldn't tell me anything.' Malfoy answered.

Hermione looked at him smugly and turned back to look out the window. Harry himself had turned sheet white.

'Don't say anything, Hermione.' He said in a small voice.

'Oh, I wouldn't say anything to anyone but Mrs. Weasley. They first thing I'm doing when I get up tomorrow is writing a letter to her.' Hermione said.

'You wouldn't. She'll tell Dumbledore!' Harry said, turning her around to look at him.

'Dumbledore deserves to know that snuffles has been disobeying his rules. He should have never left the house. I told him it was a bad idea, but he didn't listen to me, did he? No, he didn't, it's his own fault.' Hermione answered.

'So you will punish him, but you won't punish the creature for calling you a whatever that filthy name is.' Harry said.

'He calls Ron and the Weasley's blood-traitors, and you a filthy half-blood.' Hermione said. 'And I think his brains been corrupted by his filthy owners.'

'Yes, and the Weasley's and I get him back when he's not looking.' Harry muttered.

'WHAT!' Hermione yelled.

'You shouldn't have said that mate, now we're in for it.' Ron groaned and covered his ears, getting ready for the explosion. Harry followed suit and soon did the Slytherins, sensing that Hermione was going to explode too.

'What on earth did you do to him, Harry Potter!' Hermione shouted.

Harry sank down into his seat.

'What did you do to poor Kreacher, Harry? Tell me or I'll ask Fred and George and give you a detention!' She screamed.

'Hermione! Shut up! He was still alive when you saw him last, wasn't he? That means we didn't kill him! He hasn't been fed to the animal yet, has he?' Harry yelled back. Hermione glared at him strongly and didn't talk to him. Draco however, picked something up.

'Wait a moment, Granger just said the name Kreacher. Isn't he the Black family house-elf?' He asked.

Ron and Harry looked like they were about to strangle Hermione but looked back a Malfoy instead.

'No, that's not who we meant. I didn't even know my Godfather even owned a house-elf. Sorry, can't help you there.' Harry said, still glaring at Hermione.

'You can't get away from me that easily Potter. That dog at the station, that was Black, wasn't it? I know because my father whispered his name under his breathe, and Kreacher's his house-elf, I know that because he's been to my house a couple of times to speak to my Mother and Father. How else could Black have gotten out of Azkaban? He turned into a dog and got out. Smart man, but he should know the ministry will catch him.' Malfoy said.

'What if I told you Sirius was completely innocent and Pettigrew himself was an animagus?' Harry said, 'What would you say to that?'

'I'd say that I'd probably believe you. After all, someone can't get blown up so badly that they only have a finger left, that's stupid. That'll also explain how he escaped.' He answered.

'Pettigrew cut off his own finger and turned into a rat after blowing up the whole street and escaping down the sewers. The whole thing was meant to frame Sirius. But he wasn't even my parents' secret keeper. Pettigrew was, that's why Sirius went after him in the first place.' Harry explained.

'Sorry about this Potter, but your parents must have extremely dumb to put Pettigrew as secret keeper. He was a pathetic little boy in school and as far as I know he was after as well.'

'Well, my parents must have thought that Voldemort, stop it Ron, wouldn't have thought about them using Pettigrew. They changed from Sirius to Pettigrew at the last minute, so no one knew the change, they even spread it that Sirius was the secret keeper, so as not to cause suspicion, but that didn't work obviously. So Voldemort must have known to go to Pettigrew anyway. Although he may look it, he's not all that dumb.' Harry finished.

'Insulting the Dark Lord Potter? Courageous. I know many who don't even speak his name.' Malfoy confided.

'Why not? He's human, just like the rest of us. So I treat him like any other human. He wants people to fear him, so I'm not going to give him that satisfaction.' Harry answered

'There aren't many people out there who will believe you, Potter. But I think that's why he wants you gone. Because you don't fear him.' Malfoy said, leaning back and folding his arms.

'He's a coward, he'd rather see me wandless and trying to fight him than without. Then he acts surprised when you come out to face him alone. A mouse would be more fearless than he is. The fact that he knows I'm more powerful than him threatens him though, I think.' Harry admitted.

'More powerful? In your dreams Potter! No one's more powerful than the Dark Lord!' Pansy said.

'Oh yeah? I can name one. Dumbledore, he's defeated him countless times. And he's the only man that Voldemort fears. Ron now you're just getting pathetic.' Harry said, turning to him.

'Look, you're the one that keeps saying the name, it's not my fault.' Ron said defensively.

'Weasley, you have to get used to the name, being friends with Potter I thought you would have learnt that already.' Malfoy answered.

'It's not as easy as it looks, especially growing up with a family that all do the same thing, Malfoy.' Ron said.

'Think of where you were this summer, every single person apart from you and your family says his name. I got Hagrid out of flinching by yelling his name to the heavens in the hospital wing once, and I'm going to snap you out of it too.' Harry told him.

'Oh joy.' Ron muttered. Harry smiled and patted him on the arm.

'So you do know where Black's staying, don't you Potter?' Malfoy asked.

'I'm not saying I do, I'm not saying I don't.' Harry responded.

'What if I said you can trust me; that I hate what my father does. And you know full well what he does after last year; and I believe you full well about Black and him being innocent. Also about the Dark Lord being back. Whereas you'll only find a few who will actually believe you on that. And that the Dementors attacked you during the summer.' Malfoy said.

'After all the years of your teasing and torment Malfoy, can you really expect me to trust you so easily? And how did you know about the Dementor attack?' Harry asked accusingly.

Malfoy laughed lightly. 'My father works at the Ministry remember? And I guess I can understand your hesitation in trusting me. But how can I show you my trust?'

'You'll have to figure that one out yourself. Come on, we're here.' He said.

'Ladies first.' Malfoy said. The girls gathered their stuff and left, leaving the boys to get their stuff and join them outside too.

'I'll show you somehow Potter- I mean Harry. I will.' Malfoy said once they saw the carriage leave.

'I'll believe you on that.' Harry said, holding out his hand for Malfoy to shake. 'Truce?' He asked.

'Truce.' Malfoy answered.


	3. Chapter Three

The Feast and the DADA Teacher.

'What's the bet they're talking about me and Malfoy and Voldemort?' Harry muttered to the others.

'Very high, mate, very high.' Ron answered back, sitting down and waiting eagerly for the food.

'Harry, why were you talking to Malfoy?' Dean asked.

'For reasons that I really can't explain.' He told Dean. He turned back to the others. 'Hermione there are some good things about Malfoy liking you, you know. He's actually an okay guy.'

'Harry, you are to say nothing to these people about Malfoy's crush on me, do you understand?' Hermione asked.

'I know, I know, Hermione, I won't tell anyone.' Harry promised.

'Good.' She said and turned to face Dumbledore, who had stood up and asked for silence.

'It is now time for the sorting.' Dumbledore called and the shaking little first-years entered. They stood at the front of the school facing the Staff Table. They listened quietly as the Sorting Hat that had been placed on its stool by Professor McGonagall and was now singing its song.

Everyone clapped when it finished and waited for the Sorting to begin. McGonagall read out the names, and Harry noticed that girl that looked like Malfoy standing at the back of the crowd. She caught his eye and smiled a little. He returned the smile and looked back at the Hat.

'Malfoy, Sierra.' McGonagall called out. The girl moved forward and sat on the stool. The Hat did the same thing to Sierra as it did to Malfoy back in first year, as soon as it touched her head, it called out her house. 'SLYTHERIN!'

Slytherin called and cheered for their Malfoy new-comer. Draco himself had moved over to make room for her and hugged her tight.

'What, is that his wife?' Seamus called down the table.

'Seamus! Shut up!' Hermione called back at him. 'You don't even know her! Don't judge her yet. She might be nicer than you! Though that wouldn't be hard to beat!'

Gryffindor all turned to laugh at Seamus and then went back to looking at McGonagall.

Harry caught Malfoy's eye and mouthed at him what happened. He nodded and told his cousin or sister or whatever she was what they were laughing at. She smiled and nodded slightly. They listened to the rest of the Sorting before Dumbledore stood up and said his usual few words.

'Enjoy! Eat! Talk! Laugh!' Then he sat down.

When everyone had started talking again, Seamus yelled to Malfoy.

'Oi! Malfoy! Bit young to be married, aren't you?'

'Seamus! 10 points from Gryffindor! If I hear you talk ill to anyone else I'll make it 20!' Harry yelled down the table at him.

'What? Has Potter gone soft?' He yelled at him.

'20 points from Gryffindor! Keep going Seamus! Gryffindor are just going to hate you even more!' Harry yelled. His fellow Gryffindors were already glaring at him to stop but he kept going.

'You know what, I don't think I will. You're a liar Potter! You and Dumbledore both! You're nutters!' Dumbledore heard this and stood up.

'Mr. Finnegan!' Dumbledore thundered. 'Would you kindly see me in my office after the feast! Thank you! Mr. Potter, please join us if you wish. But I would like for you to complete your prefect duties first.'

'Yes Professor. Oh, Seamus, 50 points from Gryffindor for insulting a prefect and the Headmaster.' Harry said. He could see the Gryffindors all glaring at Seamus and eating their meals in silence.

Harry turned around and winked at Malfoy, who nodded in appreciation back, as did Sierra. They finished the feast and Dumbledore stood up again.

'Good Afternoon students! I hope you had an exciting holidays! This year we welcome back an old Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher that I'm sure you all liked. Professor Remus Lupin!' At the mention of Lupin's name, the whole school broke into cheers. As far as they were concerned, Lupin was the best Defence teacher they had ever had. Lupin nodded his head and smiled at the students who gave him such a rousing applause. 'Now, for our new students, I would like to say that the Forbidden Forest has its name for a reason! Do not go in there! Please check the list tomorrow morning that is sure to be in your Common Room notice boards, put up by Mr. Filch, telling you what is banned at Hogwarts. Please take these things into consideration. Now, off to bed with you! Have a good night's sleep and be ready for classes tomorrow.'

'Come on, Harry. We have to get all the first years together.' Hermione reminded him.

'Oh yeah. First years! First years over here! Don't be shy! Come on!' Harry bellowed over the noise of the Great Hall.

'Nice Harry, real smooth.' Hermione said as they made their way to the doors with the First years in tow.

'You're Harry Potter, aren't you?' One of them asked.

'Yes I am.' Harry replied, still walking along to the Gryffindor Common Room. Ron followed along behind.

'No wonder why he's Prefect.' Another one of the boys said to his friend.

'Yeah, Dumbledore loves him too much.' Draco had come up beside Harry and patted him on the back. He too had the Slytherin First years in tow behind him and Pansy.

'You're real funny Draco, keep it up.' Harry told him sarcastically.

'Aren't I just?' Draco said and they split their separate ways. Slytherins to the Dungeons, Gryffindors to the Tower.


	4. Chapter Four

Class.

The next morning, when they got up, they bumped into Seamus and Dean on the stairs. They had forgotten something and were going back up to get it.

When Seamus passed Harry, he bumped into his shoulder rather hard.

'What's your problem, Seamus? You started acting like a git to me as soon as you saw me. What did I do before I took the points from you?' Harry asked, turning on the boy that was treating him horribly.

'I almost wasn't allowed to go to school this year because of you and Dumbledore and this trash you're coming up with about You-Know-Who. Me mam doesn't want me around nutters like you.' Seamus shot back at him.

'Nutter, am I? I don't remember Dudley saying anything like that to me when I saved his ass from a couple of Dementors, or anyone where I was during the holidays not believing me and Dumbledore. I think you're nearly the only one, Seamus. Of course, the Ministry just doesn't want all the chaos that they got last time, that's why they don't believe it. And Fudge's mind is corrupted by fear. That's what Lupin said about him. Oh, and if you're not going to say anything nice to me, just keep away from me. Got it?' Harry added as an afterthought.

'I wouldn't want to be around you any way, Potter.' Seamus said, stalking back off up the stairs.

'Sorry about him Harry, it's just, he's not coping with almost not being able to come back to school very well. See you in class.' Dean apologised.

'See you, Dean. Thanks.' Harry said, smiling a little at him.

They kept walking down the stairs and met up with Hermione at the bottom, telling her about what happened with Seamus all the way to breakfast.

As they ate, McGonagall started to hand out Timetables for everyone.

'Potter, Granger, Weasley.' She muttered as she handed them to them. 'Thanks Professor.' They muttered back when they got them. Ron studied his for a second and let out a groan.

'This is positively the worst Monday I have ever seen.'

'Give us a look.' Fred and George said in unison. They bent over Ron's timetable and drew in breathe.

'That is some pretty awful timetable.' Fred said.

'Yeah, though, we could give you some of our experimental sweets.' George offered.

'Yeah, but it will cost you. They're supposed to make you sick enough to get out of class without actually being sick.' Fred added.

'You know, if I see them, I will confiscate them. Won't we Harry?' Hermione turned to Harry for back up. Harry widened his eyes at having been asked to do that and slowly tried to back away from the question.

'Only if I see them.' Harry gave them a look that said quite plainly that he couldn't see them otherwise he had to confiscate them. Fred and George cursed silently under their breaths.

'Only if I see them.' Harry said again, with more feeling.

'Oh.' They said, and walked off whistling. Hermione glared at him for a second before checking their timetable.

'You really do have a bad timetable. Double Potions, Divination and History of Magic. Snape, Trelawney, and Binns. The only good class we've got today is Defence with Lupin, and that's last. Tough Break.' Hermione said, looking back at her own timetable.

'Yours is basically the same! Except for Divination, you've got something else.' Ron said.

'Yep, no Divination for me.' Hermione said happily.

'Damn you.' Ron muttered, still looking at his timetable.

'Well, you should have given it up like I did. The subject isn't that good anyway.'

'Yeah, yeah. But at least I haven't walked out of any classes lately.'

'Shut up. I couldn't take that old fraud any longer. She hated me anyway.'

'At least she didn't predict your death every time she saw you.' Harry retorted.

'Yes, that was the only good part about the class.' Hermione mused.

After they finished breakfast, they went back to their dormitories to get their stuff for their first classes, History of Magic and Double Potions, and make their way to the classes.

Their first class was a History of Magic, which was, by far, the schools most boring subject, seeing as most people in the class fell asleep in the first five to ten minutes, depending on the weather. They had to listen to him lecture them on Giant Wars that lesson. Harry barely made out anything before playing games with Ron on a spare piece of parchment. Hermione didn't like this way approaching the class, but she understood that not everybody had her concentration skills.

After this class was break, and they made their way to the courtyard, which was significantly damp.

'Harry! Hermione! Weasley!' They heard a voice call their names behind them. They turned and saw Draco running towards them.

'How was class, hey? Had to wake Sierra up, she'd fallen asleep! Crabbe and Goyle as well, but those dunces fall asleep in nearly every class except Potions, DADA, and Transfiguration. Whether it's the teacher, or the subject I don't know.' Draco said once he'd caught up with them.

'Those two started to play hangman on one of their pieces of parchment that they were supposed to be taking notes on.' Hermione said, with a slightly annoyed tone to her voice.

'Hangman? Couldn't you think of anything better to do? I usually just sit their staring at him and pretending to listen. It gets me a better mark anyway.' Draco said shrugging.

'Boys.' Hermione muttered. She walked off rather quickly to a secluded area of the courtyard and pulled up the collar of her robe to protect her somewhat against the chilly wind.

'If you want her Draco, you're going to have to try harder.' Harry whispered.

'I am, aren't I.' He muttered back.

'Here's a hint, actually look like you enjoy the class, always works when I want to borrow her notes that night. She asked why I didn't take any, and I reply that I couldn't because I was too taken with what the teacher was saying. Funny actually, because then she looks at me funny and slowly hands me over the notes, like she's trying to tell if I'm lying.' Ron suggested.

'And I always know you are, but I give you the notes anyway.' Hermione said, smiling. The boys had reached her quicker than they intended, and they had been over heard.

'Well, now that plans ruined, I'll have to try a new approach.' Ron muttered.

'Not likely, just ask for them Ronald, I'll still give them to you.' Hermione said.

'No, you won't.' Ron argued.

'Stop it would you! It's the start of the year and you're already bickering! Give it a break!' Harry said.

'Do they always do this?' Draco asked.

'Always. Hate to say it, but yes. Ever since first year, neither of them has been able to get along that well with the other. Third year was the worst. Scabbers was "supposedly" eaten by Hermione's cat, Crookshanks. Hermione wouldn't talk to Ron for weeks. Hagrid had to get them talking again after he found Scabbers in one of his pots in his hut.' Harry explained.

'They're that bad?' He asked, the other two couldn't hear them because they were still bickering.

'Oh yeah. And sometimes worse.' Harry muttered. Draco stifled a bit of a snort. Malfoy's didn't snort. Just then, Cho walked past.

'Hi Harry! How were your holidays?' She asked. She seemed a little flustered, though Harry couldn't understand why.

'Yeah, they were ok. Better than others. Worse than most.' Harry answered.

'Really? I heard about the Dementor attack and the Hearing. They were horrible to you. I'm glad you came out on top though. Well, see you, Harry.' Cho said. She was still a little flustered when she walked off too.

'Bye.' Harry called after her.

'She likes you.' Draco stated.

'Really? Couldn't guess.' Harry said. It wasn't sarcastically, but then again, he thought he knew why she was flustered.

'Anyone could tell, Harry. She wasn't exactly hiding it.' Draco said.

'Yeah, guess so.' Harry wasn't particularly pleased with this idea. He had gotten over his crush on Cho during the holidays. He no longer felt anything for her.

When Harry was dwelling on his loss of lust for Cho, the Bell went. Draco had to stand Hermione and Ron up and send one of them one way, and the other another to stop them bickering.

'You take Ron to Potions and I'll take Hermione. You go first.' He said. Harry nodded his agreement and took Ron by the elbow, marching him off to Potions. Draco and Hermione turned up shortly after still fuming at her quarrel with Ron. The door opened slowly and Snape loomed in the doorway.

'Enter.' He said. He stood aside and let them file through. Harry, Ron and Hermione found their usual table at the back. Draco went to join the other Slytherins at the front of the class and sat down with them, avoiding questions about where he was during break.

Snape started class talking about the OWL Exams coming up for everyone in 5th year. He said that he would not take in anyone who didn't get an Outstanding on their Exam. Most of the class looked happy at this, no more Snape for most of them. They were plenty happy about that, but Harry wasn't. There was no way he would get an Outstanding in Potions, so his dream of becoming an Auror seemed to be dissolving in his mind.

After Snape's illuminating speech, he told them that they would be making the Draught of Peace. Apparently it was designed to calm the drinker and soothe agitation. He told them that the ingredients were on the board and everything they needed was in Store Cupboard, then said they had an hour and a half. After the hour and a half was up, he walked around the desks looking at the potions in the people's cauldrons'. When he finally made his way to the back, he grimaced at Ron's potion and merely glanced at Hermione's. But the biggest shock of all, was Harry's. After looking at Hermione's, he expected to see an inadequate potion that he could humiliate Harry for, but instead found the potion brewed to perfection. Snape raised his eyebrows at Harry and lowered his voice.

'You have your mothers' talents.' Harry widened his eyes at this, but Snape had walked away at his last word. Harry looked round at Hermione and Ron, who were both looking at him quizzically, wondering what Snape had said to him. For Harry this would have to go down as a first. That must have been the first ever compliment he had made to a Gryffindor, let alone a Potter, given his history with his father, it was most likely. Harry looked at Draco next, who was looking at him with the same confusion that Hermione and Ron had.

'For those who concocted the potion correctly, please put it in a vial on my desk to be marked.' Snape told the class, then instructed them about his Homework. The class packed up and left, going out to Lunch as quick as possible from the Dungeons.

As soon as they left the classroom, Hermione and Ron rounded on Harry.

'What did Snape say to you? Detention for the awfulness of your potion? Points taken off? What?' Draco had joined them by now and was wanting answers as much as them.

'Snape would have humiliated me in front of the whole class if it was points taken off or something. But no, I think what he gave me was something of a compliment, though, I wouldn't be sure. He said, I have my mother's talent. I suppose that's a compliment, isn't it? I'll have to ask Lupin, or someone like that who knew my mother, then I'll see if I should like or hate Snape for that statement. I'll send a letter to them tonight.' Harry said.

Hermione's eyes had widened when Harry had said what Snape had told him. 'Harry, your mother was one of the best potion-makers to walk through Hogwarts halls, you must have a talent for that potion, because usually you're really bad, no offence.'

'None taken. I know I'm dead awful at potions. Always have been. But I was so determined to show up Snape in the first class that I must have just, aced it.' Harry admitted.

'Trust me Potter, I did not give you an insult when I told you about your mothers' talent. It was the best I had seen in my many years at Hogwarts.' Snape said, making them jump two feet in the air. Hermione was scared so much that she was breathing heavily afterwards.

'Um, thank you, then, Professor.' Harry said hesitantly.

'I hope to never give a son of your father a compliment again.' Snape muttered, hurrying off to Lunch.

'Well, now I know that he took no comfort or any such thing when saying it to me. All because my father was his worst enemy.' Harry said.

'Yes, but your mother was the woman he loved.' Draco said quietly.

'What?' Harry asked, taken aback by this statement. How could Snape have ever fallen for Lily?

'Snape was in love with your mother. I heard him and father talking about lost loves one day back when I was little. They didn't notice me hiding under the table, not that I cared, I liked listening to their conversations, I also liked trying out my hiding places for whenever my parents wished to yell at me for some reason or another. They always spoke on this subject. Mother was never allowed in the room of course, but they always spoke of it. Snape confided in him his love for Lily Potter. Father burst out in hysterical laughter, then it subsided, I guess he realised Snape wasn't kidding. Oh, well, here's the Great Hall, hope Sierra's already in there, I don't know why she wasn't in potions, so I plan to ask her. See you around.' With that, Draco took his leave to the Slytherin table.

'Fancy that, Snape being in love with Harry's mother. Strange, isn't it?' Ron asked.

'You're telling me, she was my mother!' Harry said. Ron laughed at this and sat down at the table in between Harry and Hermione. They ate Lunch quickly and went to get their stuff for their next classes, which was Divination for the boys.

'See you at Defence Against the Dark Arts!' Hermione said.

'See you, Hermione!' The boys yelled after her.

They walked into Divination and took their seats on the pouffes and took the books that Professor Trelawney handed them. Draco came in a few seconds later, except without Sierra. They winked and smiled at each other and Draco took his seat with the Slytherins.

They took a look at the book they had in their hands. _Dream Oracle_, by Inigo Imago. It was all about Dream interpreting. She explained that this would probably be in their OWLs. She set them to work interpreting dreams and reading from the textbook. No one was impressed that they got even more Homework from her, that made stuff from Binns and Snape, now Trelawney. They walked out of class and made their way down to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.

They walked in quickly and took seats near the front, like they did in third year.

Professor Lupin smiled at them as they sat down and went over to talk to them.

'How are you guys? Classes haven't been too hard yet?' He asked with a sly grin on his face.

'Oh yeah, they were perfect, loads of Homework from Binns, Trelawney and Snape. This is the worst Monday I have seen in a long time.' Harry said.

'History of Magic, Divination and Potions just before Defence? I'll have to make the Monday classes more fun to make up for the horrid ones beforehand.' Lupin joked.

'Thanks, I think we'll need it.' Harry answered. The whole class had come in by now and had taken their seats.

'Well class, I haven't seen you all in quite some time. I hope the classes will be just as good now as they were then, but that is up to you. Now, please take out your books, we're going to read a little on some types of curses and spells before we try them out. Page 10 please.' They opened their books and read quietly until they had finished the next few pages. Once they had all finished reading, the door slammed open to reveal a rather red-faced and puffing Sierra Malfoy.

'I'm so sorry I'm late Professor, I was talking to Professor Dumbledore about my classes. Sorry.' She said rather quickly. Lupin smiled and pointed to the seat next to Harry.

'At least you weren't just skipping class, I'm not that horrid. Please take a seat next to Harry.' Draco was stifling laughter behind his hand, so when Sierra walked past him, she hit him on the back of the head. Harry laughed slightly at him and moved his stuff off the desk beside him so she could sit down.

'Where reading the first chapter, it's on page 10.' Harry whispered to her.

'Thanks.' She whispered back, smiling lightly at him. She took out her book and started reading while the others got ready to start practicing the spells that they had just learnt the theory on. By the end of the lesson, Harry was the only one to be able to do all the spells that they learnt the theory on. Hermione was close behind him, only not able to complete one of the set spells, but she was very close to getting it. Harry was helping her on it, but she still didn't get it completely. She was getting really frustrated.

'This isn't working!' She cried in frustration.

'Calm down, Hermione. You're slowly getting it. You just flourish your wand too much, try to make it smaller.' He instructed. She did as she was told, but the bell went before she could try again.

'Well done everyone! This was a great lesson! You all did splendidly! I'll see you next lesson!' Lupin cried over their talking and packing up. Draco came over to them. 'Well, that was an interesting lesson, better than any others. Harry, have flyers been put up in your Common Room yet about Quidditch tryouts?' He asked.

'Not that I know of. I hope they're soon though, I can't wait to get back out on my broom again.' Harry answered.

'Yeah, I know what you mean. Are you trying out too, Ron?' He asked. The conversation went on like this for a while. Hermione and Sierra just shook their heads at them and walked off, in their own little conversation.

After dropping their stuff off in their dormitories and saying goodbye to the Malfoys, they made their way down to dinner. After finishing dinner, they fell straight to sleep in their soft, comfortable beds.


	5. Chapter Five

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry this update took so long. Writers block, working on other stories and not being able to get onto the computer are major update stoppers. I'll try and make the next one come up sooner! Thank you to all my reviewers! I love them. Keep reviewing!

The Letter to Padfoot.

The next morning, Harry felt happy and energized. He got up, had a shower, got dressed and walked down into the Common Room.

'Harry!' Came a voice behind him. He turned around and saw Ginny running up to him.

'What's up Gin?' He asked her when she reached him.

'Have you seen the message board?' She asked.

'Nope, just came downstairs.'

'Look, now.' She said, pushing him in the back over to the notice board. When they got there, Harry saw the huge sign in the middle of the board that read:

_**QUIDDITCH TRYOUTS!**_

_**THIS SATURDAY AFTER LUNCH! **_

_**QUIDDITCH PITCH!**_

'Cool, who's captain this year?' Harry asked.

'Angelina, and she's being really strict. I think that she thinks she has to, to live up to the legend that was Oliver Wood. This should be an interesting year.' Ginny said. 'Apparently Ron is trying out. I'd watch out for him. I don't know whether you have to go, though. Angelina is not about to throw away the best Seeker that this school has seen since your father himself.' Ginny praised.

'Thanks Gin, but I'm going to go anyway, just in case. For all we know, There could be a really good third year out to get my position on the team.' Harry joked. Ginny laughed a bit and Ron and Hermione came down to join them and they all walked down to breakfast together. During breakfast, Harry came up with an idea.

'You know how Draco isn't actually telling anyone anything about how Sierra is related to him? And you know how Snuffles is related to his family through Narcissa? I was thinking that he might know how she's related to them.' Harry suggested.

'What, write him a letter asking if he knows who this mysterious Malfoy is? He might know. It's worth asking, sure, but don't you think it's an invasion of privacy? Why don't you just ask Draco?' Hermione asked him.

'Hermione, I'm basically his son. And I think I saw a huge room with what looks like a family tree in one of the many rooms in his house. I don't think he'll mind telling me. And it's not like I'm going to tell the whole school if it's so amazingly disgusting. And I'll ask him after I find out, or if I don't find out so I'll know if he's lying or if he's telling the truth. Either way I'll find out.' Harry explained. Hermione sighed. There was no turning Harry back once he had his mind made up on what he wanted to do. He was just as stubborn as she was.

'Fine, but I still advise asking Draco first, he might not appreciate you snooping into his life like this.'

'It'll be fine. And all I'm going to ask Snuffles to do is look on the family tree to see if her name's on there, then I'll ask him how they are related, okay?'

'Fine. I have Arithmancy this morning so I better go, I'll see you boys after or during break.' Hermione said, leaving the breakfast table and walking out of the Great Hall.

'See you, Hermione.' They called after her.

'What have we got first?' Ron asked.

'Um, Divination. That's what the timetable says anyway.' Harry replied.

'Well, the timetable is usually right, let's get going; Trelawney's tower takes ages to get to.' Ron said.

'Yeah, come on.' They walked out of the Great Hall and caught up with Draco and Sierra. They walked up to the Divination Tower together and sat down in their usual spots. After Divination, they met up with Hermione and went to Defence. After another great lesson, they went to Lunch and ate quickly. After more boring classes, they went to dinner and Harry started writing his letter to Sirius. Hermione highly disapproved of what he was doing, but knew she couldn't stop him. The letter went something like this.

_Dear Snuffles,_

_Sorry to use your code name in a letter, but I can't have you getting caught because of something I wrote. Anyway, I wanted you to have a look at that family tree room that I saw in your house over the summer. I want you to see if there is a girl with the name Sierra Malfoy on there. It would be a great help. And I also want to know how good my mother was at potions. Snape said that I inherited her talent for it and I want to know if I should hate him more than I already do for that comment or be utterly confused. I also just wanted your opinion on it._

_Stay safe. Harry._

'Have you finished the letter Harry?' Hermione asked.

'Yep, do you want to read it?' He asked.

'Sure. I might as well.' She answered with a sigh.

'Here you go.' He said, handing it to her.

'Thanks.' She said. She read it through and handed it back to him. 'It sounds okay. Do you want me to take it to Hedwig tonight? I've already finished my homework and I know you haven't done yours. I also know Ron hasn't either.' Hermione said.

'Fine, you take it, but don't let anyone here you telling Hedwig to take it to him, you'll have to tell her his name or she won't know who you're talking about.' Harry whispered across the table to her.

'Yep, I'll take it to him when we leave so as not to raise suspicion.' Hermione whispered back. They ate the rest of their dinner and Harry was very restless.

'Yes Harry, I will go and give the letter to her now.' Hermione said when they had finished dinner. They walked out of the Hall and Hermione walked off to the Owlery. She had to turn around a couple of times because she had that strange feeling that someone was following her. She made it there without any disturbances though, and she was incredibly relieved.

She walked over to where Hedwig was perched and took her down and over to the bench that was covered in Owl droppings. She tied the letter around Hedwig's leg and then she felt that familiar presence someone close by. She turned around and looked behind her, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. Being friends with Ron and Harry had heightened her senses about people following her around. Not because they did it. But because of everything that they had been through in the past five years. Being ambushed, followed, attacked, everything. She slowly turned back around to face Hedwig.

'Take this letter to Sirius. Hopefully you remember where you were this summer.' Hermione whispered, just loud enough for a certain person spying on her to listen in. She took Hedwig over to the window and she flew off into the distance. Hermione watched the magnificent bird take off and fly until she couldn't she her. After a little while, she felt someone stand beside her.

'Beautiful, isn't it?' The boy asked quietly. She turned to face the person standing with her to find none other than Draco Malfoy. She sighed.

'It is. I love watching Hedwig take off. She looks magnificent with the sun beating down on her white wings. I love her. Harry does too. She's his owl.' She told him.

'I know that this is none of my business, so you don't have to answer it if you don't want to, but who was the letter to?' He asked, looking at her. She caught his eyes and held them for a long time.

'I'm not allowed to tell you. It's a secret.' She said mysteriously. She gave him a small, bright smile and turned back to look at the Sunset. He scrutinized her for a second before turning back to look out the window again himself. After a while, Hermione decided to ask him the question that Harry wanted to know from Sirius.

'How are you related to Sierra? You two seem like brother and sister, yet, if she was, then she would've started Hogwarts with you, wouldn't she? I'm just curious. You don't have to tell me.' She explained. Draco raised an eyebrow at her.

'That question has been on everyone's mind, hasn't it? Oh well, I'll tell you. She's my cousin. My father has a twin brother. She's his daughter. She originally went to Beauxbatons. Then changed to Durmstrang because of the Defence Against the Dark Arts stuff. But her mother is really nice. She's my favourite relative, apart from Sirius. I only talked to him a couple of times. Or so I've been told. Anyway, I was told to take care of her this year and next year because she is going to stay next year as well. Father doesn't approve of her because she makes friends with "the wrong people" or whatever he has started calling them. I don't really care anymore. I love my family, but I don't believe in the same things they do. They scare me sometimes. All this Death Eater stuff. They want me to become one too, so I may have to go into hiding soon to avoid it. That is the last thing I want to do with my life. I want to find someone I love and settle down with them. Not blow it all to the gallows. I don't want to ruin my life like they did. I want to have a family and be with them, you know. Like normal people. Including Muggles. They have the best lives I reckon. They don't have to worry about any Dark Lords, or Death Eaters. No worries. I'm sorry, I'm just rambling on about my crap life. Sorry.' Hermione looked at him sadly. She hooked arm around his and leaned her head on his shoulder, trying to comfort him. He looked a little surprised at this, but rested his head on top of hers, a small smile tugging at his lips.

They stayed in this state for a while until they noticed it was getting very dark. They decided to walk back. Just as he was about to say goodbye to Hermione when he bent his head low to hers.

'I know that you know where he lives. I heard you.' He whispered.

'You were the one spying on me!' She almost shouted. Draco pressed a hand to her mouth, making her stay quiet down.

'Yes, but only because I wanted to spend time alone with you.' He whispered. He kept his head low to hers, making her heart beat rapidly. She was a bit uncomfortable, but liked it all the same.

'You can't tell anyone, please don't. If they find out then we'll be taken in for questioning about it and everything. Please don't tell a soul.' Hermione pleaded, she had taken his hand from her mouth.

'I promise. Heart and soul, I will never tell your secret about my cousin.' Draco whispered. He quickly kissed her on the forehead and turned away, walking even quicker down the hallway, making his way to the Slytherin Dungeons, leaving Hermione a little bit stunned at the quick kiss and that he had wanted to spend time with her alone. She vowed not to tell Harry that he knew. She walked into the Common Room, giving the Fat Lady the password, then quickly walked up the stairs into her bedroom, ready for a goodnights sleep.

444444444444444

The next morning, when she woke up, she was still a little confused about what had transpired last night between her and Draco. She shook her head roughly, trying to shake the thoughts of him from her head. The truth was, she couldn't get the feel of his lips out of her mind. They were soft, smooth. She loved the feel of them. She wanted to feel them against her own. She wanted to be with _him._

She went to have a quick shower before getting dressed. She walked into the Common Room and ran straight into Harry and Ron. Quite literally. All three of them ended up on the floor rubbing their backsides.

'Why the hell were you standing so close to the stairwell?' She asked. She got up slowly and glared at them.

'Sorry, didn't know you would come down so quickly.' Ron said gruffly.

'It's okay, just wait for me to come down next time. Now why were you waiting at the stairwell?' She asked again.

'Did you send it?' Harry whispered.

'No Harry, I tore it up and threw it in the bin. Of course I bloody sent it!' Hermione cried in a loud whisper.

'No need to get smart with me. Just making sure.' Harry said.

'Good. Now let's go down to breakfast, I'm starving.' Hermione said to them. They nodded in agreement and left the Common Room to go into the Great Hall.

As they walked past the Slytherin table, Draco winked at her and gave her a small, barely seen, sincere smile. One that he seemed to actually mean. One that he only gave to her. She smiled back and continued walking with the boys. They made their way to the Gryffindor table and ate a quick breakfast before the boys thought that they would go out and get in some extra practice before the tryouts after Lunch. Ginny said that she would join them, and Hermione sighed, rolling her eyes. She said that she would come with them after Lunch to see the tryout, but had to finish off some work in the Library before then. It was a fair compromise, homework before lunch, and watching them after. They agreed unwillingly, but they knew that Hermione would just do Homework instead of watching them anyway. While they went upstairs to get their brooms and a ball to throw to each other, Hermione went up to collect her workbooks, quill and ink and anything else she may need. They bid goodbye to each other outside the portrait hole and split their separate ways. Hermione to the Library and Ron, Ginny and Harry to the Quidditch Pitch.

On her way to the Library, Hermione once again found that she had that annoying feeling that she was being watched. She turned around suddenly, hoping to catch whoever was following off guard, but that was no use, so she just kept walking to the Library, but kept a wary eye behind her and her senses alert, her hand was over her wand the entire time, ready for use when needed. She made her way there with ease, not being intercepted or stopped, but she still had that nagging feeling that she was being followed and watched. She found her favourite table at the back of the Library and set everything up to start. She started her Potions homework first and set off to look for the right book.

As she set off into the Potions section, she heard a voice behind her.

'How different, Hermione's doing homework.' She laughed lightly as she recognized the voice from last night in the Owlery. She turned around to see Draco standing behind her. Not too close, but far enough away for her to feel comfortable. She came closer to him and enveloped him into a hug. He was a bit surprised for a moment, but soon came to his senses and wrapped his arms around her, taking in her scent, breathing in from her hair discreetly. She was at the least a head shorter than he was. They broke apart after a couple of seconds. Hermione blushed lightly, and turned to continue looking for her book.

'So, where are your magnificent friends?' Draco asked.

'Ha ha. Ginny, Harry and Ron are practicing before the Quidditch tryouts this afternoon. I said I'd watch the tryouts, but I can't stand a whole day of just watching them practice Quidditch. So I'm doing my homework, getting it out of the way, so to speak.' She answered, flashing a glance at him, smiling. He nodded to her.

'What book are you looking for?' He asked. 'Maybe I could help.'

'_Moste Potente Potions_. It has to be here somewhere!' She cursed. Draco smiled and took a book from the shelves.

'Is this the one you're looking for?' He asked her, holding out the book. She turned around to see what book it was and tell him that she had already searched there, but found the big volume in his hands.

'But I'd already looked there. Where did you find it?' She asked, taking the book from him and looking at him curiously.

_She looks so cute when she's confused._ Draco thought, smirking.

'Just here, look, here's the hole I pulled it from.' He pointed at the hole and smirking larger at the look of surprise on her face. She looked back up at him and gave him another hug. This time he was ready for it and wrapped her tight in his arms. They hugged for what seemed like an incredibly long time before they snapped to their senses and pulled apart. Hermione blushed brightly and went back to sit at her table. Draco followed her and sat beside her. They talked as she worked and he made her laugh so much that Madam Pince had to tell them many a time to be quiet. Hermione was close to getting close to being kicked out of the Library for the first time in Five years.

After they (meaning she) finished work and it was time for Lunch. Draco walked her down to the Great Hall. They split ways at the tables and Hermione met up with Harry, Ron and Ginny. They greeted her (Ron with his mouth full, like always) and they ate a good Lunch before heading down to the Quidditch Pitch for tryouts. Hermione and Ginny went up into the Stands and waited for the tryouts to begin.

She heard Angelina yelling out to everyone in the area who had turned up. The sounds wafted up to her, but she was unable to make out anything that she was saying. Just by seeing who was flying, she could tell that it was the Keeper tryouts first. She stopped reading to watch Angelina throw the Quaffle in random directions for him to catch. Ron caught all of them superbly. Hermione cheered for him and as he did a lap of honour, she Hi 5-ed him as he flew past. She laughed as her hair went wild as he went passed, making the wind whip past her.

At the end of the Tryouts, Ron was named the new Gryffindor Keeper. Hermione cheered loudly at the news. She had come down to hear the verdict. She gave Ron a huge hug and they walked back up to the Tower to get ready for dinner together. The tryouts had taken all the rest of the day. Just getting everyone ready and trying out everyone who turned up. They all walked into the Great Hall together and ate a big dinner. Then headed off to bed for a good night's sleep.

4444444444444

When they woke up the next morning, they found Hedwig tapping on the Common Room window. Harry was the first over there to open the window to let her in. He quickly took the letter that was attached to her off and sat down in front of the fire to read it with them. They crowded around the letter and Harry read aloud.

_Dear Harry,_

_I know you can't use my real name in the damn letter, so you don't need to apologize. I understand. As for the girl, Sierra. She's Draco's cousin. Apparently Lucius has a twin brother named Samete. It's his daughter. And apparently I'm not the only 'bad egg,' in the family. Sierra's mother and father, as well as herself were all blasted off the wall, along with me. Oh, and about your mother, she was the best potioneer Hogwarts had ever seen. Aced every test we had and passed N.E.W.T s and O.W.L. s with flying colours. If Snape said that to you then it was definitely a compliment. But then again, it makes me a bit confused because he hated your father, so I don't know why he would pay you a compliment. So, be utterly confused. Oh, and my opinion, you must be very talented at potions to be compared to your mother. I'm proud of you. So would they have been. Harry, when haven't I been safe? Stay safe yourself and don't get into any more mischief this year._

_From Snuffles._

_P.S. I have a clue where Wormtail might be hiding. Near the hills around Hogsmeade. Where I was hiding out last year. Check up there for me next time you're in Hogsmeade. I think he's there to spy on you. Be careful. Snuffles._

'Well, now I know, I might as well check whether he will tell me who she is himself.' Harry said, folding up the letter and putting it in his pocket.

'Draco told me who she was when we were in the Owlery, I don't know why he wouldn't tell you. But, then again, he doesn't have a crush on you, follow you everywhere and sneak up on you when you least expect it.' Hermione added. Harry and Ron raised their eyebrows at her and she sighed.

'Draco snuck up on me way after I sent the letter to Snuffles and then followed me all the way to the Library yesterday. It was kind of odd.' She explained. The boys snickered at her and she hit them in the back of the heads rather hard, but not hard enough to really hurt them. They still chuckled as they rubbed their heads. They walked down to have a late breakfast and to walk around the lake, talking about what Sirius had told them. They talked for ages, walking around the lake, sitting against their usual tree, walking all around the grounds, just to random places. They went back inside for Lunch, then came back out for more talking in the sun. Draco and Sierra followed soon after and Harry asked the question that he had wanted to ask them all day.

'Hey, I wanted to know this for a while now, how are you two related to each other?'

'We're cousins. My father has a twin brother, Samete, that's her father.' Draco said. They were sitting in the shade of a tree by the lake, watching the Giant Squid wiggle his tentacles over the water. Hermione gave Harry a smug look and settled back into reading. Harry rolled his eyes at her and turned back to look up at the sky. He was laying on his back with his hands behind his head. They lay there talking for the rest of the day until dinner, where they walked in together and ate at their respective tables. They fell asleep immediately.


	6. Chapter Six

A/N: Hey everyone! I am so sorry that this update took me so long! Please forgive me! Looks hopefully at reviewers Well, here's the next chapter, I hope you like it. It took me ages to write! I have a severe case of wrtiers' block at the moment, so that is why, I've also been reading other stories. My sister is also on the computer, since we only have one. I hope you enjoy the chapter. Leave a review!

Hogsmeade Trip.

Over the next few months, the Quidditch training got harder, workloads increased and people thoroughly looked forward to the first Hogsmeade of the year. As everyone sat around on one weekend in the sunny, though chilly day, they all completed some of the homework they had been assigned by their many teachers. Two such students were sitting out underneath a tree by the Lake, working on their Arithmancy homework.

'Draco, what answer did you get for this question?' Asked Hermione, she was obviously deep in thought from what her voice portrayed.

'Give me a look.' He said. He leaned over to sit mostly behind her, looking over her shoulder. Hermione could feel his warm breath on her neck and shivered slightly, enjoying the feeling of having him so close to her. Unfortunately for her, Draco noticed. He moved closer to her, making sure his chest touched her back and put his hand on her waist. Hermione's breath caught in her throat and she took a quick side-ways glance at him. He smirked at her, resting his head on her shoulder and looked at the question on her sheet.

'I'm not sure, let me see the sheet.' He whispered to her. He reached around her and took it from her, making sure he was as close to her as possible. Hermione was shaking slightly as he took the sheet from her. He held it close to his face and read the question.

'I think the answer is twenty, thought I wouldn't be sure.' He whispered softly to her again. Hermione, who was still shaking, nodded jerkily and took the page back from him in her shaky hand. He sat behind her for a while longer before moving away, a small smirk on his handsome features. He saw her face when he moved back to his original position and saw that she was blushing heavily. His smirk got a little bigger as the kept up their working. Every so often, Hermione would pretend to need help on another question so she could feel the familiar feeling of closeness from him. She loved feeling him close to her. They finished their work after a couple more hours and headed back into the castle for Lunch. They split ways at the Great Hall with a small smile or a wink to each other and walked off to their respected tables. Hermione walked back humming with her head back down by the lake with Draco sitting close behind her. As she sat next to the boys on the table with that same dreamy smile on her face, they noticed and gave each other curious looks.

'Hermione? Are you okay?' Harry asked wearily.

'Perfect.' Hermione answered with a sigh and went back to eating the food she had put on her plate. The boys exchanged more strange looks, but dropped the subject and took another approach.

'Hey, Hermione, where were you before Lunch? We didn't see you at Breakfast and couldn't find you in the Common Room.' Ron asked her.

'Oh, I was sitting down by the Lake with Draco, doing some Arithmancy homework.' She answered. Harry and Ron exchanged huge grin with each other and looked back at her. They knew what must have happened to make Hermione this happy.

'So, did he ask you out or something?' Ron asked, he was still unable to get that huge grin off his face.

'No, he didn't. I just asked him the answers to a couple of questions, that's all.' She answered, trying to be nonchalant.

'What's the bet she asked him deliberately?' Ginny asked. She joined them, having heard a bit of the conversation a little already and knew what they were talking about. At hearing Ginny's comment about her fake questions, she turned bright red.

'Ooooooo. Hermione you naughty girl! You did! How much do you like him?' Ginny asked and they went into a full blown conversation about how much Hermione liked Draco and Harry and Ron lost the track pretty much as soon as they started talking excitedly about it. They rolled their eyes at each other and continued eating and having their own conversation.

After Lunch they went back to the common room and talked and worked until dinner. Harry wrote a thank you note to Sirius for the answers he gave him about his questions, and Ginny and Hermione spoke more on the matter of Hermione and Draco.

They walked down to dinner together and had fun talking, eating and laughing. Hermione, who was facing the Slytherin table, kept glancing up to look at a certain blonde man that also kept throwing her looks over his plate. Whenever they caught each other's eyes they would blush or smirk and look away. Ginny caught them at this once or twice and elbowed her in the ribs. Hermione looked at her and cast her a horrid look. Ginny just smiled and wiggled her eyebrows at Hermione, looking from her to Draco. Hermione blushed heavily and turned back to her plate of food. Ginny giggled silently and turned back to eating herself. Draco saw all of this and laughed lightly to himself.

When they woke the next morning, the first thing Hermione noticed was the amount of people crowded around the noticeboard. She went up behind the big group.

'Alright, alright, I'm guessing you've all seen what's on there, move away and let others see it too.' Hermione said in her loud commanding voice of a prefect. She saw the notice that they were all fawning over. The first Hogsmeade trip for the year. Hermione smiled happily and nearly skipped down to breakfast. She ate something quickly and went down to sit by the lake. Harry and Ron joined her soon after and they sat and talked for a while until they were joined by Ginny and Luna. Soon after, they found Draco and Sierra walking towards them. Draco was the one to bring up the Hogsmeade visit the week after next.

'Hey, are you guys going to Hogsmeade the week after next?'

'Don't know, we usually go. Don't see why we aren't this time.' Harry answered him.

'Hermione, could I talk to you for a second?' Draco asked.

'Sure.' She answered, getting up off her position on the ground, and walking a little way off to talk to him. When they reached their destination, Draco turned to face her and took her hands in his.

'Hermione, I wanted to ask you if you wanted to come with me to Hogsmeade next weekend?' Draco asked. He stared into her eyes confidently. She smiled brightly at him and threw her arms around his neck.

'Of course, Draco!' She said. He hugged her back tightly. When they pulled back, he smiled at her brightly.

'I'll meet you in the entrance hall at 10?' He asked.

'Sure. I'd love that.' She said. She leaned up to give him a kiss on the cheek before turning around and walking back to the others. She left him to walk back with a huge smirk on his face. He sat down beside her and watched her, joining in the conversation every once in a while. When they set about going inside again, Hermione noticed Sierra and Harry talking animatedly about something. She had thought for some time about Harry's affections for her and held the others back for a bit to let them walk together.

'Let them walk together, they seem to be hitting it off.' She told them. They nodded and Ron smirked.

When they met up with Harry in the Common Room again, they saw that he was extremely happy about something. He was humming for Merlin's sake. And he had a goofy grin on his face.

'Let me guess, you asked Sierra to go to Hogsmeade with you, and she said yes.' Ginny asked, reading the expression on his face. Harry nodded, not taking that stupid, irritating grin off his face.

'Hey, as far as I know Harry isn't the only one with a date. Judging by the kiss on the cheek she gave Draco, Hermione has her own little date going on next weekend. Remember, Madam Puddifoot's is the best place for couples.' Ginny teased, smirking at the look on Hermione's face. Hermione herself had gone bright red. Harry and Ron looked at her, and started laughing manically. Hermione glared at them and Ginny went over to hit them both in the head. But they still didn't stop until five minutes after Ginny had spoken.

'So, Ron, are you going to Hogsmeade with anyone, seeming as you probably don't want to walk around with Ginny and her boyfriend, and you'll have to stay here, or walk around by yourself. It's your call.' Hermione said from behind the covers of the book she was reading.

'I'll go with Dean and Seamus and Neville. That solves that problem.' Ron answered. Hermione looked up from her book to look at Ginny.

'Isn't Dean Ginny's boyfriend? That leaves one less person that you can hang with.' Hermione then had a brilliant thought. She was smirking. Hermione instantly ditched her book and went to sit with the younger girl. They started to talk in excited whispers.

'We'll be back, I have to talk to Draco.' Hermione answered. She and Ginny got up and ran out of the room. Harry and Ron exchanged confused and scared looks. The girls came back into the room with huge smiles on their faces and ran up to the girls' dormitories.

'Hey! What did you do?' Ron called after them.

'You'll find out soon enough!' Came the reply.

'Damn girls, come on, I'm starving, let's go down to Lunch.' Ron said. Harry nodded and cast another worried look at the dormitories.

The girls met up with them soon after they reached the Great Hall, they looked over to the Slytherin table and smiled knowing smiles at Draco, who gratefully smiled back and nodded at them, looking pointedly at the person next to them. They started to congratulate themselves and celebrate during Lunch by saying a toast.

'To a brilliant set up.' Ginny said and the girls clinked glasses, drank deeply and started laughing at the curious expressions on the boys faces.

'Imagine there faces when they actually find out what we've done.' Ginny said between fits of laughter, this just made both of them laugh harder.

Draco was watching them from the Slytherin table and couldn't help laughing at them. The scene in itself looked comical. Everyone around him looked at him like they thought he was crazy, but he just raised an eyebrow at them and they all went back to eating.

The rest of the week of the Hogsmeade weekend couldn't come fast enough for Harry, Ginny and Hermione. By now Ron had found out that the girls had set him up on blind date. He just wished that they hadn't set him up with the likes of Eloise Midgeon, or Millicent Bullstrode. By the time it did come, Hermione was the first up, rummaging through her trunk for something perfect to wear to Hogsmeade. She woke up Lavender and Parvati with her rummaging around, and they started to help her get ready. They helped her with her hair after she put her clothes on and did her make-up in nice, natural shades. When they were done, they stood back to take a look at their creation.

'Not too shabby if I say so myself.' Lavender said.

'You look stunning Hermione. Whoever you're going with to Hogsmeade with will fall absolutely in love with you!' Parvati said.

'If he isn't already!' Hermione said nervously. She got up and hugged both girls tightly.

'Thank you.' Hermione said.

'No problem Hermione, hopefully we'll see you and your mysterious date around today!' Lavender said.

'Maybe.' Hermione said. She walked downstairs to find everyone sitting around the fire.

'Hermione! You look great!' Ginny said. Her comment made the boys turn around to look at her. She was wearing a simple light blue Turtleneck shirt, black pants and had her normal black boots. Her hair was down and in soft curls that flowed over her shoulders, though she was wearing a beanie. It had started to snow this morning, it just showed that winter was in full swing.

'Stop it Gin, my dates probably going to kill anyone that looks at me the wrong way.' Hermione said, standing behind everyone.

'Speaking of the man, you might have to tell him to keep his hands off of you. He might not want to.' Ginny said. Hermione blushed lightly, making her look, if possible, even prettier than she already was.

'Shall we head down?' Hermione asked. They nodded and made their way down to breakfast. They ate quickly and waited outside in the Entrance Hall for their dates, which turned up quickly. She really wanted to see the look on Ron's face when he sees his mystery date.

Hermione and Ginny were finding it hard to keep their laughter down as they saw the others approach them. Sierra looked beautiful and Ron had to hit Harry on the back to stop him drooling on the floor after he had seen her.

When Draco first spotted Hermione, his eyes went wide and Ron's blind date's mouth dropped open. She never knew that _Granger_, of all people, was that pretty.

'Hey,' She said when they made it to them. 'How are you?' She asked.

'I'm fine. You look absolutely beautiful.' Draco said. He took her hand and kissed it.

'Well, isn't Ron going to know about who he's going to spend the day with? I want to see the look on his face before I go find Dean somewhere in this crowd.' Ginny said, now her smile had turned bright and she wasn't able to keep her laughter in for much longer. Neither could Hermione.

'Ron, meet your date, Pansy Parkinson.' Hermione said. Pansy smiled at him.

'You've got to be kidding Hermione, this is a joke isn't it?' Ron asked silently with wide eyes.

'No Ron. Seeming as you were going to be left out, we thought that you might like to have some alone time with Pansy.' Hermione said. Ron blushed at Pansy and she smiled again.

'Come on. I think we better start heading down. Let's give the blind dates time to get to know each other.' Draco said smirking. Hermione, Harry, Sierra, Ginny and Draco walked off over to Filch to get ready to leave.

'How about we meet in the Three Broomsticks for lunch? We might see you guys around Hogsmeade, see you.' Hermione said once they got there.

'Yeah sure, see you.' They replied, and walked off to different directions. Draco took Hermione's hand.

'Where do you want to go?' He asked. He was clueless as to what she wanted to do, seeing as he knew next to nothing about her.

'Do you want to go see the Shrieking Shack? I've always felt drawn to that place.' Hermione said.

'Sure, let's go.' Draco said. They walked off hand-in-hand to the Shrieking Shack. They stood, watching it, and talking to each other for a while until he saw that she was starting to get incredibly cold. She was shivering like mad and a red flush had come to her cheeks. He went behind her and put his arms around her, hoping to warm her up somewhat. Hermione, who hadn't been expecting this, snapped her head around to look at him. He started to take his arms away from her, thinking that she thought it was too soon, but she took his hands in hers and held him close. Draco smirked and hugged her tight. She leaned back into his chest and took in the scene before her and what was happening. She smiled contently, enjoying the strong arms that were held around her.

'Hey, do you wanna go and look around the shops? We could go get some lollies from Honeydukes?' Draco suggested. Hermione turned her head and looked at him, smiling.

'Sure, why not? Then it should be about time to meet the others in the Three Broomsticks.' She said. Draco let go of her and took her hand again. He smiled at her and they walked back into town. They made their way into Honeydukes, crashing into Ron and Pansy. They were holding hands and Pansy was actually smiling and laughing. Ron looked like he was having the time of his life. They walked in there and bought sweets, walking out together and running straight into Lavender and Parvati.

'Hermione! Oh my god! You are possibly the most lucky girl in Hogwarts! How did you manage to get him?' Lavender asked.

'Actually, he asked me.' Hermione said. Ron and Pansy were laughing because they remembered the chaos on the train and in the carriage about Draco's crush on her. They walked off to the Three Broomsticks which they had just seen Harry and Sierra enter.

'Wow. I never thought that this would happen. Nor the Ron and Pansy coupling. Gryffindor and Slytherin are definitely getting closer, aren't they? Well, see you Hermione. Have fun with your _mystery date_.' Parvati said. The two girls walked off giggling. Hermione shook her head at them and took Draco's hand again as they walked into the Three Broomsticks for something warm to eat and drink. They found the group sitting around a table at the far end of the Pub. They walked over and took their seats beside each other at the end of the booth.

'Hey guys!' Hermione said as they sat at the table.

'Hey Hermione, Draco.' Harry said. Harry was holding Sierra's hand under the table and gently massaging it with his fingers. She was smiling and held his other hand with hers. Ron and Pansy had started snogging on the other side of them and were being ignored because of it. Hermione rolled her eyes at them and rested her head on Draco's shoulder. He took a strand of her hair and twisted it around his finger.

'So what did you guys do?' Draco asked Harry and Sierra. Harry turned a little red and Sierra laughed slightly. Draco raised an eyebrow at them and Hermione chuckled.

'Well, I took her to Madam Puddifoot's. I heard about it from the girls that giggle constantly in our common room. They can be useful sometimes. When they're not, I'll tell them off, but just as I was about to tell them off, I heard them mention the place, then I told them off, but anyway, they gave me the idea. I took her there and, well, let's just say tea and a fluffy, pink, confetti-filled, lovey-dovey place like that and me don't mix very well.' Harry said. Hermione started laughing harder and Draco even laughed a little.

'One thing you should know Harry, Sierra doesn't like places like that.' Draco said. Harry rolled his eyes.

'I got that when she started looking really uncomfortable. I asked her if she wanted to leave and she nodded her head vigorously and it looked like she was pleading with me to leave. We got up to leave and the woman that owns the place sat us back down and started singing to us. We both went bright red and tried to leave again, making all these excuses and when we finally were able to leave, we got to the door and a huge dumping of confetti landed on our heads. Then I turned around to see who put it on us and ran straight into the Lady again, who I suspect was Madam Puddifoot herself. I got tea all down my shirt and on my pants, making it look like I pissed myself. Sierra was laughing her head off at me,' at this Harry grabbed her around the waist and started to tickle her, making her and everyone at the table laugh even more, 'then I just took her outside and I ran into Hagrid. I was that desperate that I even let Hagrid clean me up. You know how bad he is at magic with that umbrella of his. Oh well. We walked around Hogsmeade for a while after that, then came in here.' Harry ended. They were still laughing about his little mishap for a while after he finished talking. Harry, who was the only one not laughing, made the others move so he could get the Butterbeers. He returned shortly with them, and the others had calmed down in their laughing. Ron and Pansy had surfaced and were talking in small voices to each other. They drank their Butterbeers and talked for ages, until Harry heard a tapping on the window behind him. He turned to see Hedwig sitting on the sill outside.

'Hedwig?' He said. Everyone looked up at the window and Draco got up to go outside and get the letter from her. He returned back to the table with it and Hedwig had taken off back for the castle. Harry opened the letter to find Sirius' handwriting. As he read the letter, his brow furrowed. Hermione and Ron looked at him with confusion and Draco and Sierra looked at him with worry. After he was finished with it, he handed it over to Draco to read.

'Here, this letter is more for your eyes than mine.' Harry said. He looked around the pub and saw Rita Skeeter sitting down the other end of the pub with her Quick-Quotes quill in hand and a fresh sheet of paper under it.

'Skeeter.' Harry muttered. Draco read the letter silently.

_Dear Harry, _

_Please inform Draco that Bellatrix and Lucius just invaded my house. They didn't find me because I had locked myself into my room, I didn't want them to find me and take me to Voldemort, so I stayed out of the way. I did hear Lucius mention a letter that he got from Rita Skeeter. Apparently it said something along the lines of Draco fraternizing with the enemy and falling in love with a muggleborn. Of course, they did say the other word, but I hate it, so I don't say it. They came into the house and went straight for the room with the family tree in it. They found Draco's name and blasted it off. Warn him that if he goes home, then he will be tortured and killed. Lucius was saying that he would be the one to do it. He would also disinherit the boy. Tell him he can live with me. Oh, and read tomorrow's paper. It'll be highly interesting. Tell Dumbledore too. Make sure the boy and his cousin stay safe. As well as yourself._

_Snuffles._

'Well, tell him I take up the offer and that if I ever see my father again, then it will be too soon.' Draco said in a low voice. Hermione had her head on his chest, silent tears were making a trek down her face at the fact that it was because of her he wouldn't be allowed to go home.

'Draco, I'm so sorry.' Hermione cried.

'This has nothing to do with you. I fell for you, you never made me do what I did. It's not your fault.' He stated. 'Is Skeeter here?' He asked Harry. Harry nodded and looked behind him. Draco looked in the window that reflected to the other side of the room and saw her sitting and looking very pleased with herself as she drank her Butterbeer.

'Bitch.' Draco muttered. 'Come on, let's get back up to the school, we'll have lunch there.' They made their way back up to the school in silence. When they got there, Hermione and Draco went up to the Great Hall and ate, Harry sent a return letter to Sirius, saying that Draco took up the offer and thank you for warning him, Ron and Pansy found and empty classroom and Sierra sent a letter to her father telling him what just happened with Draco and where he was staying for the rest of his life. Harry also asked Sirius if Sierra could stay and Sierra, in turn asked her father. They sent their letters and went back to the Great Hall for lunch. They were soon joined by a dishelved looking Ron and Pansy. They ate and then found an empty classroom where they could talk in private.

'I'll tell Dumbledore tomorrow and show him the letter that Snuffles sent us. Then he will give his verdict. What I want to know is how the found out about Grimmauld Place.' Harry said.

'So do I. Dumbledore's the Secret Keeper, that should be enough said.' Hermione said.

'Nope, all of the Malfoy family know about the place because of mother and Aunt Bella. They pretty much grew up in that place hearing about Voldemort and Death Eaters. They would have been able to find it easily.' Draco said.

'But what about the protection that Dumbledore and the order put up? They can't have able to get past that.' She replied.

'Do remember that you're talking about Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange here. They have gotten into the Ministry of Magic and out again without so much as a millimetre of trouble coming their way. I think that they would be able to get past a couple of protection spells.' He answered. They sat in silence for a while before Hermione sighed.

'There isn't much we can do until Dumbledore investigates the place. We might even have to wait until after Christmas to know what really happened in more detail. Let's try and think of something a little happier. Please?' She didn't like the aura in the room and she was desperate to change it. They spent the rest of the time in the classroom talking about what happened over the holidays, Harry's was by far the most interesting, with the Dementor attack, being swept off to Grimmauld Place, and spending the rest of his holidays with his criminal of a Godfather, his ex-defence teacher, friends, and members of the Order. Though, they didn't mention the Order, they didn't want to give away anything that Dumbledore might punish them for later. During their talk, Professor Lupin came in and gave his condolences to Draco about not being able to go home with his family. Draco just gave a hollow laugh.

'Professor, I couldn't be happier to get out of that hell hole!' He said.

'Well, I'm glad about that. I've talked to Dumbledore already, Snuffles sent me a letter using Hedwig too, and he wants you and Sierra to read it, then destroy it. This is the location of the Order of the Phoenix HQ. You can't tell anyone. Literally. Dumbledore's the Secret Keeper and you can join if you wish when you're of age and out of school.' He explained. He handed Draco and Sierra the note that had the address on it, watched them read and destroy it, before smiling and leaving.

'Well, now I have a place to live where I'm not an absolute outcast and hated.' Draco said. Hermione took his hand and kissed it gently. He wrapped his arm around her and held her close. He put his head close to hers and put his mouth to her ear.

'I also get to spend more time with my girl.' He whispered. Hermione blushed lightly and leaned into him.

'That'll be fun. I can't wait.' She whispered back. Draco's smirk got huge and kissed her forehead, hugging her tight. She chuckled a little and smiled up at him.

They talked again until a very welcome dinner came, and then an even more welcomed bed.


	7. Chapter Seven

A/N: Hey guys! I'm back again! Just to let you know, my school is starting soon, so updates are going to be few and far between for a while until I figure out my schedule for school and fanfiction. But I promise that I will not abandon this story. I hope your loving it so far. There's some Hermione and Draco action in here as well as Pansy and Ron. Enjoy!

The Newspaper & A Guest.

The next morning, the Golden Trio got up refreshed and happy. They met up in the Common Room, ready for the day ahead of them. Potions, Double Defence, Transfiguration, Divination for the boys, and Double History of Magic. They walked down to breakfast talking and laughing about the day ahead and what they would be doing in classes. They sat down and ate, taking Sirius' advice and waiting for the owl post to come in. Hermione was taking the Daily Prophet anyway, so they didn't have to worry about stealing someone else's.

Hermione was about to put some more food into her mouth when she heard the Owls enter to deliver the morning mail. She looked over to the Slytherin table behind her to see Draco and Sierra watching the mail and them. Hermione took the newspaper from the post owl and paid it. The boys crowded around her and read the article on the front page. Their eyes widened at the huge picture of none other than Sirius Black on the front page. They read the article together.

'_Early this morning, long time mass-murderer, Sirius Black made _

_an appearance at the Ministry of Magic claiming that he had Peter Pettigrew with him at that moment. He was taken straight to the _

_Minster himself without argument and holding a rat in one hand. _

_The rat appeared to be struggling. I followed them in and was allowed to overhear the proceedings to go in the _Daily Prophet_. Black said that he had Peter Pettigrew with him. The Minister looked around and only saw the struggling rat that Black held up with a triumphant grin on his face. The Minister eyed the rat and asked him what the big deal was. Black explained that Pettigrew could turn into a rat and had blown up the street himself, to prove his theory all he needed to do was turn the rat back into Pettigrew and question him. The Minister got one of his bodyguards to do it and the apparent rat turned into Peter Pettigrew himself! Pettigrew, upon seeing Black, scampered into the furthest corner of the Ministers office. Black had a look of triumph on his face at catching the rat and looked expectantly at the Minister. Fudge looked in disbelief at Pettigrew and took him directly into custody to await questioning. _

_After questioning Pettigrew, they found out that he was, in fact, the Potters' Secret Keeper instead of Black, had been an illegal animagus since he was in his fifth year, had killed all of those muggles instead of Black and had been in hiding with He Who Must Not Be Named since the end of the year that Black escaped. He is also in debt to Harry Potter for saving his life in Harry's third year, making Sirius Black innocent of all charges and is going to be given a new wand to replace the one that was broken when he was taken to Azkaban 14 years ago. Black will soon be allowed to walk the streets as a free man and as Harry Potters' legal guardian. _

'Yes! He did it! He's free!' Harry shouted, laughing his head off and jumping around. Everyone in Gryffindor was laughing at him, but a few people from Slytherin, Gryffindor and the Staff Table were laughing with him. Draco and Sierra were hi-5ing each other, Lupin was laughing at his friends genius, Dumbledore was laughing at the hilarity of Harry's antics, as well as Hermione and Ron. For the rest of the day, Harry was in a better mood than he had been in all year so far.

In the next few days, Harry got non-stop letters from Sirius and all that he had done, how much he used his new wand, and how much he was enjoying being free. Harry laughed at all his antics around his home and how he was enjoying life now that he could go outside. He was still stared at, though he didn't mind that as much, but when he left the house, he usually left as a dog, found an alleyway, then changed into a human. He may not mind the stares, they got on his nerves sometimes. The muggles had been notifies about his innocence and he was accepted, though he was still an outcast. Though, he had still been on a couple of dates with a couple of witches that remembered him from school and what his reputation was. Harry laughed at this and remembered the stories that Professor Lupin had told them about him at school. He found classes more manageable when he was happier too. He was even getting better grades in Potions, much to Professor Snape's disgust. Actually, Professor Snape hadn't been very happy since the article about Sirius had come in the paper. Apparently, he wasn't very happy about having his enemy free to do what he pleased in the world of normal people. Unfortunately for him, his month would only get worse.

It was one dinner during November that Professor Snape got a huge surprise, although he was a member of the Order of the Phoenix. But not many people had been told about what was to happen until Christmas.

Dumbledore got up just before everyone was to start eating their dinner.

'I hope everyone is happy and content and is ready to jump into eating the dinner that has been prepared for you. But, before you dig into the meal, I have a piece of information that will excite or scare most of you. Over the next few weeks, we will have a guest at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please welcome Sirius Black.' The Great Hall's doors opened all of a sudden and a very fit, smiling and happy Sirius Black walked up to Professor Dumbledore and shaking his hand tightly, exchanging greetings. Harry's eyes were as wide as dinner plates and his mouth had dropped open. His expression was mirrored by Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Fred and George, and Draco. The rest of the school had started whispering about this new development on Dumbledore's part. Hermione caught snippets of some of the things the girls were saying and it was mostly who handsome he was. Hermione nearly choked and started laughing silently to herself. She had never thought of Harry's Godfather as handsome.

Harry was staring up at his Godfather with an amused and questioning expression. He seemed to be asking why he didn't tell him that he was staying at Hogwarts until Christmas. Sirius just winked and took his seat beside a very annoyed Professor Snape with Professor Lupin on the other side. He talked animatedly with Professor Lupin and avoided even looking at Snape. Harry noticed and laughed. He caught Draco's eye and they both laughed at Snape's predicament. After dinner, the Weasley's, Harry, Hermione and the Malfoy's went up to talk to Sirius.

'Why didn't you tell me that you were staying at Hogwarts?' Harry asked accusingly.

'What a nice way to say hello to your godfather.' Sirius said. Harry went up and gave him a big hug before backing up and asking the question again.

'Well?' He asked.

'I can see I'm not getting out of this one quickly. I didn't want to tell you because I didn't know until yesterday and I wanted it to be a surprise, since you don't get many surprises in your life apart from death, and I wanted it to be a good surprise.' Sirius explained. Harry laughed.

'Well, your not the first to surprise me this year.' Harry pointed to Draco and Sierra. Draco smiled and held out his hand for Sirius to shake, but he pulled him in for a hug instead. Draco nearly tripped and fell, but caught himself and hugged Sirius.

'Thanks for letting me stay with you.' Draco said.

'No problem. As long as you don't hurt Hermione, or I'll hurt you.' Sirius said. Hermione hit him in the arm, making him laugh a bit before turning to her and giving her a hug as well.

'Hi Sirius.' Hermione said. He let go of her.

'My, I never thought that you'd fall head over heels for a Malfoy. This is going to be written down somewhere.' Sirius joked. Hermione rolled her eyes.

'Trust me, neither did I.' Hermione teased. Draco shot a playful glare at her. Sirius turned to Ron next and pulled him into a hug. Ron hugged back reluctantly.

'You seem to be incredibly happy about being let off.' Ron commented after Sirius had let go of him.

'You have no idea.' Sirius said. 'Ginny!'

'Sirius!' Ginny yelled back and went to hug him as well. They laughed as they hugged and Sirius let her go again. He smiled down at the young girl.

'Haven't been getting into trouble for doing inappropriate things have we?' He asked.

'Of course not, why would I do that?' Ginny asked cheekily. He grinned at her before turning to the twins.

'Fred and George!' He yelled opening his arms to them.

'Sirius!' They yelled back. They ran up to him and enveloped him in a massive hug. They laughed and jumped around a bit. Sirius let go of them, smiling widely.

'I hope you two haven't got that many detentions off teachers already?' Sirius asked. They boys acted shocked and covered their mouths with their hands.

'As if we would ever do that Sirius!' They cried. Sirius laughed a hearty laugh and turned to Sierra.

'This must be Sierra Malfoy. I've heard about you. Your in most of Harry's letters. Nice to meet you.' He said. He pulled her in for a hug too. Harry had gone a very bright red and was looking at the floor to try and hide it. Hermione noticed and started giggling. Harry shot a glare at her and calmed himself down and turned back to Sirius again. Sirius had seen the red that graced Harry's cheeks at his comment about Harry's letters. Sirius pulled him in for another hug. Harry smiled and hugged him back again.

'Been good have you Harry?' He asked.

'Of course. Annoying Professor Snape, talking with Lupin, getting reasonable grades, the usual.' Harry said.

'That reminds me. I should go and drop in to have a chat with old Snivellus. For old times sake.' Sirius added. Harry laughed.

'I'll get a deliberate detention with him, tell you when it is and you can help me annoy him.' Harry said. Sirius laughed his bark of a laugh and gripped Harry's arms.

'Just like your father, Harry, never miss a moment to annoy Snivellus.' Harry grinned at being compared to his father and started laughing.

'So will you join me if I _accidentally_ get a detention with him?' He asked.

'Of course! Wouldn't miss it for the world!' Sirius said. They all laughed at this and they talked for a little while longer before making their way to bed for a comfortable nights sleep.

Since yesterday was indeed a Wednesday, it was another Thursday for the five of them. They walked into History of Magic with high spirits and was actually able to stay awake during it. Next, was Potions, which Harry easily landed a detention in because Snape was already in an incredibly bad mood. All he had to do was talk back a little bit. So at Lunch that day, Harry went up and told Sirius when his detention was, which was tomorrow night. Sirius winked at him and Lupin looked at them both suspiciously, but they didn't tell him what they planned to do to poor Severus Snape.

The next day went all too slowly for Harry, who was happily looking forward to his detention tonight at 7.00. Hermione didn't think it so wise to tempt fate by annoying him.

'Harry, you are tempting fate to breaking point. You know what he's going to do once he sees Sirius! He'll crack! Then we'll have to put up with a lunatic Potions Master for the rest of the year until re either resigns from strain or is able to see a Therapist.' Hermione said at dinner that night before Harry's detention.

'Come on Hermione, it's just a bit of fun. And anyway, Snape probably got a lot worse from my dad. That's what Sirius said anyway. That reminds me, I wonder if we're staying here for Christmas, or going back. I'll ask Sirius later.' Harry muttered to himself. Hermione rolled her eyes and continued eating her dinner.

-----

That night, at his detention, Harry practically skipped down he was that excited. When he got there, he knocked on the door loudly and heard the usual call of, 'Enter.' He went inside with a huge smile on his face.

'Hello Professor!' Harry said cheerfully. Snape looked up from his work to see a very perky, happy, Harry Potter. He eyed him suspiciously before telling him what he was to do for today.

'You will be cleaning out the store cupboard for me tonight, Mr. Potter. Get to work.' He snapped. Snape went back to grading the papers on his desk.

'Of course, sir.' Harry said, still very cheerful. Harry set to work immediately on the store cupboard. When he opened it, his smile instantly faded. It was a mess. Probably made deliberately by Snape himself for Harry to fix. He groaned and set to work. He could just tell that Snape was smirking at making Harry clean out the pigsty of a store cupboard. After five minutes of shuffling the stuff around, Harry started to wonder where Sirius was. _Wasn't he supposed to help me annoy Snape? That might actually work if he turned up!_ Just as he stopped thinking about his forgetful Godfather, there was a knock on the door.

'Enter.' Snape drawled, not taking his eyes off of the papers. Sirius walked wearing a grin similar to the one that Harry wore when he walked in. Snape looked up and groaned.

'What do you want Black?' Snape asked.

'Oh, I just thought a visit to an old school mate was in order.' Sirius said, still giving off that mischievous grin. Snape groaned again and looked back down at his papers.

'Well, if you can't already tell, I'm babysitting your godson and I have papers to grade. Why don't we arrange this visit to another time? How about never?' Snape said, not looking up from his grading.

'Oh, I have an idea, how about I help you? I could look after Harry while you do those papers that your so keen to get done! How about that?' Sirius asked, apparently proud of his own genius.

'Black, you do know that if you were to look after Potter then it wouldn't be a detention at all? It would be more like a chance to slack off and Mr. Potter has to learn to do detentions without the help of others.' Snape said.

'Professor, I have done more detentions with you than my father could have possibly done in his whole life at Hogwarts. I think I've learnt how to do detentions with out other peoples help.' Harry said. While Snape and Sirius where talking, Harry was trying to hold in his laughter at his Godfathers obvious happiness at upsetting the teacher just by his presence.

'20 points from Gryffindor for back-talking to a teacher, Mr. Potter. And you will not be getting any help from Black, you two are worse together than all four of the Marauders put together.' Snape muttered under his breath.

'Thank you, sir.' Harry said, he was rather proud at being called worse then the Marauders.

'Harry! That means we have to make you an honorary member! I'll tell Remus tomorrow and you'll be a Marauder before midnight.' Sirius exclaimed.

'What about Ron, Hermione and Ginny?' Harry asked.

'Of course! A new generation! Too bad Remus and I never had kids. There could have really been a new generation of Marauders.' Sirius mused.

'Thank Merlin is more like it.' Snape muttered again. 'Get back to work Mr. Potter, you have clean out that whole cupboard before you leave for the night. And if you get caught by Filch then it's not my problem.' Snape said to Harry. He rolled his eyes and went back to work. Sirius walked over to where Harry was cleaning out the cupboard and gasped.

'What the hell did you do to this cupboard, Snivellus. Looks like you put an exploding device in it, but the contents where in unbreakable jars so they just got thrown all over the place.' Sirius said.

'Do you mean a bomb Sirius?' Harry asked. Sirius shot him a curious look. Harry just shook his head and continued with the detention.

'Here, this'll get you out earlier.' Sirius pointed his wand at the cupboard and the ingredients in there sorted out on their own. Harry smiled up at his Godfather.

'Thanks Sirius.' Harry said. 'Well Professor, I'm done. I'll see you in class tomorrow.' Harry said. Snape looked up and shot glares at both men before they left. Once outside the dungeons, Sirius and Harry started roaring in laughter.

'That was brilliant Sirius.' Harry said once he had calmed down from his maniacal laughter.

'Thank you, I always loved annoying him at school, and now I have the chance at home and at his workplace. I swear, me being here is going to send him up the wall.' Sirius said. Sirius walked Harry up to Gryffindor Common Room, bid him goodnight and walked back down to his room for a brilliant nights sleep about annoying Snivellus.

-----

The next week was filled with fun as Sirius joined Lupin in teaching in Defence Against the Dark Arts, making it a more interesting lesson than they had ever had before. By the end of the month, the whole school was talking about how cool Sirius was and how interesting he was. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny had been made honorary Marauders. They were also animagus just like the first Marauders. Harry was a lion, and his nickname was Hercules, Hermione turned into a wolf and her name was Silver (that was the colour of her fur.), Ron was a Badger and his name was Stripes. Ginny was a red fox, and her name was Red. They went around the school pulling pranks like the first Marauders did, but only when Hermione felt like it. She was the one that usually came up with how to pull the prank off. Some of the pranks they did for fun on Draco and the fifth year Slytherins and they would get them back for it later, but it was all in good fun. They would get their ideas from Lupin and Sirius, though, mostly Sirius because they feared that Lupin would lose his job if he got caught. One particular prank got them in a little bit trouble.

One Thursday night, they sat around the fire thinking up something that would bring them enjoyment and not the usual boredom they were currently experiencing. Harry got a brilliant idea.

'Hey, why don't we pull a prank on the Slytherins, all in good fun, but just something for a laugh.' Harry suggested. Ron and Ginny nodded and looked at Hermione to see whether she was in or not.

'Fine, what did you have in mind?' She asked, putting down the book she had in her hands. Harry got that mischievous glint in his eyes and that huge grin on his face that said he had the perfect prank in mind.

'Well, I heard about this one that Sirius and Lupin and Dad and Pettigrew did before Christmas, I think it would be good to keep up the tradition.' Harry said. They raised their eyes at him and wanting to know what this daring prank was.

'Okay, what we'll need is for Hermione to get the Slytherin password to get into the Common Room, and a switching spell, Hermione, can you teach us those?' Harry asked. Hermione shrugged.

'I suppose so, they're easy enough, though you'd be able to do them if you paid attention in Charms.' Hermione chastised. Harry rolled his eyes.

'Tomorrow, can you get the password from Draco? He's sure to give it to you if you give him the right reasons.' Harry said cheekily. A huge grin was spread over his face. Hermione glared at him evilly.

'I hate you Harry James Potter.' She hissed. Ginny giggled and Ron smirked.

'I'll tell you the rest once you get the password, so make it quick, I don't want to hold back much longer.' Harry said.

The next day, after dinner, Ron and Hermione walked down to Slytherin dungeons to pick up Draco and Pansy. They split off in there separate ways, Ron and Pansy going off down to one side of the school, and Draco and Hermione went to the side of the school with the lake. They walked around, hand-in-hand, for a while before Hermione decided to ask the question assigned to her by Harry.

'Hey Draco, I was wondering, what is the password for Slytherin? I mean, what if I need to talk to you immediately, or I want to have a midnight gathering or something? I'll need to know the password so as not to wake the others.' She said innocently. Draco turned to look at her with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

'What type of gatherings?' He said, spinning so that he was standing in front of her and had his hands on her lower waist. He had his head very close to hers and she could feel his hot breath blow against her face. Hermione got the same glint in her eyes as Draco did.

'Oh, just wanting to say a proper goodnight without having the unnecessary friends around. And Ron wants to take away Pansy's innocence.' She said cheekily. Draco started to laugh uproariously.

'Pansy hasn't been innocent since third year. She lost that Blaise Zabini just before the end of the year.' Draco explained. Hermione looked a little downcast at this.

'Oh, well, Ron wants Pansy to take it from him. He's an innocent as a little puppy. He knows nothing.' She said.

'What about you? You seem to be innocent.' Draco said. Hermione blushed slightly.

'I'm not as innocent as you think. I lost it to Victor Krum just before he left.' She mumbled, looking at her feet. Draco started to laugh and made her look him in the eye again.

'Are you serious?' He asked. Hermione nodded and looked him in the eye to make him believe her.

'I would have never expected that. I didn't even think you'd had your first kiss yet. I wanted to have that privilege.' Draco sulked. Hermione giggled lightly and looked back into his eyes.

'Well, at least you'll have a girl that knows her stuff.' She whispered to him. He smiled back at her slyly and leant down to kiss her. She leaned forward, noticing his movement, and felt her lips get caught in his. The kiss was the best that Hermione had ever had. Victor liked his kisses to be rough and demanding, Draco's were soft until she wanted to make it more, he liked to comply with her wishes, instead of it being the other way round. She liked it. Rough kisses were never that nice, but soft ones were romantic, and she liked that sort of thing. Hermione could have sworn that she could see fireworks behind her closed eyelids. When they pulled apart, they just stared into each others eyes for a couple of moments, before Draco cracked a smile.

'That, was the best kiss I have ever had in my entire life.' He said. Hermione laughed a little and looked at her feet. When she looked back up, she had a bright smile on her face.

'So, do I get the password?' She asked cheekily, wrapping her arms around his waist. He followed suit and rested his forehead on hers. He was smiling brightly as well.

'Only if I get more of that.' He whispered slyly.

'Of course.' Hermione answered.

'Then the password is Salazar Slytherin, too typical if you ask me. Now, do I get to find out what yours is? I think if your allowed midnight visits then I am.' He said. Hermione looked like she was deep in thought.

'I'll tell you, but there isn't much of a point. You won't be able to get up the stairs to the girls' dorms. They turn into a slide when a guy steps onto them. Harry and Ron found that out the hard way when they had to talk to me urgently. They were the talk of the Gryffindor Tower for a week.' She said, smiling.

'Is there anyway that the stairs won't turn into a slide?' He asked.

'Well, a spell would probably do it, like a freezing one or something. But I don't know, any way, the password is Angel. You know, like the Angel on the top of the Christmas tree?' She asked. He looked at her confusedly.

'You never had a Christmas Tree, did you?' She asked softly. He shook his head and looked down. Hermione brought his face up to meet hers. She gave him a deep kiss to try and make him feel better, which worked, because a huge smile lit up his face and bent low to whisper something into her ear.

'Expect regular visits.' He took his head back and found that she was breathing deeply and had her eyes closed. He realised what that must have sounded like and turned red.

'I didn't mean, _that_, way, I just meant that I would see you. I wouldn't expect _that_. I'm sorry.' He mumbled. Hermione opened her eyes to see a very red and shocked Draco.

'That's okay. I was just imagining what have you would be like. I've decided it would be nice. Not like Victor at all. For mu first, it wasn't that great.' She admitted. Draco had turned even redder at her speech, but he was even more shocked by the last thing that she said.

'Really? That's not what I've heard from others.' He said. Hermione laughed slightly.

'What, do you get all of Victor's ex's?' She asked. He glared playfully at her. She laughed at him.

'No, I don't, but I've talked to some of them. Apparently they came back satisfied. Looks like he had a bed customer.' He teased. Hermione sighed.

'Yep, oh well. I'll get some one that's good someday. Come on, let's go inside, it's getting cold out here.' She said.

'One thing first.' He said. He pulled her in for a very passionate kiss. Hermione moaned lightly and pulled him in tighter. Draco slipped his tongue against her bottom lip and was allowed to enter willingly. As soon as Hermione felt his tongue touched hers, she instantly felt a spark. He was hers, and she wasn't about to let him go.

Draco explored Hermione's mouth like he had no other. He wanted to make her his. He loved her like he had no other. He held her tightly to him and moved his hands further down to her hips, making her gasp lightly at the movement. He had the instinct to move them, but didn't have it in him, she also wasn't complaining.

When they needed air, which they were rather attached to, Hermione looked at the watch she had on her wrist and gasped.

'I'm so sorry, Draco, I have to go. Harry said to meet him in the Common Room at noon to discuss some stuff. I would have loved to stay longer, explore more of side I just saw, but I better go, apparently it's important.' She said, smiling ruefully at him. He smiled back at her.

'I understand. We'll do this again some time, heh?' He whispered. She smiled.

'Hopefully inside, it's much too cold out here in winter.' She said. Draco pulled her in for a tight hug.

'I know that I probably shouldn't say this yet, but I love you Hermione, like I've loved no other person.' He whispered. Hermione smiled to herself.

'I love you to Draco. So, so much.' She answered in a whisper. She pulled away from him and gave him a quick peck on the lips before turning around and running back towards the castle. Draco groaned and followed her at a walk and went into the Great Hall.

Hermione went looking for Ron, who she knew wouldn't be in the Common Room yet, most likely in an empty classroom snogging Pansy. Which was exactly where she found them. She walked past a classroom that was apparently groaning. Hermione rolled her eyes before shutting them and opened the door.

'Alright, stop snogging so I can open my eyes. And if an articles of clothing have been removed, so please put them back on. I'd rather not see any unwanted pieces of skin.' She said, standing in doorway.

Ron and Pansy had broken apart as soon as the door had opened; they had panicked that one of the teachers had caught them at it. When they heard Hermione's voice, they calmed down a little bit, but still quickly put shirts back on and stepped away from each other.

'Is it safe to open my eyes now?' Hermione asked them impatiently.

'Yes, Hermione, you can now look.' Ron said. Hermione opened her eyes slowly, first peeking through one, then the other.

'Come on Ron, we have to go see Harry about the plan.' Hermione said, pulling Ron out of the classroom. He muttered a quick goodbye to Pansy before she was out of sight.

'What was that for?' He asked once they were out of earshot of the classroom.

'I was not watching you snog her goodbye, it could have got very dirty if I'd have let you.' She said. She was walking very fast up the stairs to the Gryffindor Common Room. When they got there, they found Ginny and Harry talking in one corner of the Common Room. They went over to join them and greeted them.

'Hey guys. I got the password!' Hermione said in an excited whisper. Harry, Ginny and Ron all cheered quietly.

'Yes, great, what is it?' Harry asked. Hermione had a wicked smile on her face.

'Salazar Slytherin. Draco said it was too typical for Slytherins to have that password.' Hermione said.

'So it is Salazar Slytherin?' Harry asked. Hermione rolled her eyes.

'Yes Harry. Now what's the rest of your plan?' Hermione asked.

'Well, first we need you to teach us how to perform a switching charm. We can start that right away. Please?' Harry innocently.

'Fine, take out your wands.' Hermione instructed. They took out their wands and held them at the ready.

'Now, repeat the incantation.' Hermione told them the incantation and they repeated it.

'The wrist movements are as shown.' Hermione made the wrist movements, a quick flick of the wand, and they all tried together. Harry got it almost immediately, but Rona and Ginny had more trouble. Ginny for obvious reasons, she wasn't supposed to know this magic yet, and Ron was just a dunce when it came to learning things quickly.

Hermione spent the rest of the night helping them perfect the spell, which turned out harder than Ron had initially thought.

'I can't do this Hermione.' He complained. Hermione sighed. This was the thirtieth time she had heard it that night. She put on an innocent smile and turned to face Ron.

'You'll get it Ron, just keep trying.' Hermione said. She turned back to help Ginny with the wrist movements.

'Can we go to bed, I'm tired.' Ron complained again. Hermione sighed deeply again.

'You know what, go to bed Ron, you might be willing to try properly in the morning.' Hermione answered him. Well, it was 12 at night. Harry and Ron walked up to the boys dormitory and Hermione and Ginny walked quietly up the girls. They bid each other goodnight and went to bed.

-----

The next day, after classes, the worked on the charm some more, and Ron eventually perfected it. He just needed to be in a better mood. They waited until midnight that night to put the plan in action.

When the time came, they slipped under the cloak and made their way to the Slytherin dungeons. When they got there, Hermione said the password and they passed through the apparent solid brick wall. Hermione and Ginny saw the Slytherin Common Room for the first time that night. It was completely green with silver banners draped around the place. There were a number of green armchairs by the fire that was still crackling. They looked around the place for a bit to make sure that there was no one still hanging around after midnight, then Harry whipped the cloak off of them and pointed to the girls to be look out. They nodded. Harry motioned to Ron to follow him and the made their way to the seventh year boys dorms. Hermione and Ginny stood waiting outside for the guys to finish and took a good look around the room.

_So this is where Draco sits and talks to his Slytherin friends._ Hermione wondered to herself. She saw a couple of Butterbeer bottles in one corner of the room and looked away, disgusted at their immaturity. The boys came back a little while later with huge grins on their faces, Ginny and Hermione gave them confused looks, but decided not to think anything of it. They slipped under the cloak again and made their way to their beds, thinking that tomorrow was going to be an interesting day.

I hope you guys like that chapter. It took me a while to write, but it was worth it. You get to find out what happened to the Slytherins in the next chapter, so just keep reading! Review, review, review!


	8. Chapter Eight

A/N: How are you? It's been so long, I know, but I went back to school and got loads of homework piled onto me. Trust me, I didn't like it either. I would have rather been typing. Damn Italian. Anyhoo, this is the next chapter, I hope you all like it and I'm sorry it took so long to write. I'm also going to damn writers' block. Damn writers' block. Okay, I'll shut up now, please review! walks away waving and smiling.

The Prank

The next morning, They all got up bright and early to see what the Slytherins boys looked like. They got dressed quickly and met in the Common Room. They walked down together and took the best seats they could get that faced the Great Hall door and the Slytherin table. After waiting anxiously for twenty minutes, they finally heard maniacal laughter coming from outside the hall doors. The fifth year Slytherin boys walked into the Great Hall wearing dresses and skirts and low cut, shirts with high heels. None of them particularly happy about this arrangement, but seeming as they found out this morning that these were the only clothes that they had to wear, they would rather wear these than walk breakfast naked. That would have been even more embarrassing. They trudged haughtily over to Slytherin table and sat down amidst the laughter of the rest of the school. You could see Sirius at the Staff table laughing his head off at the Slytherins misfortune. Draco sat facing the Gryffindor table and saw Hermione, Harry, Ron and Ginny nearly rolling on the floor in laughter and giving each other hi-5's. His eyes went wide with realisation. _They_ had done this to them. He turned red with anger and told the other boys about it. They turned around to see what Draco had just seen. They were seething in anger.

_I'll get them back later._ Draco thought. They sat during breakfast and ate quickly, hoping to get to find Flitwick so they could ask for the reverse spell. Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny all finished their breakfast and sat under the tree by the lake talking about their prank. They were soon joined by and enraged Draco and a sniggering Sierra.

Sierra sat beside Harry and buried her head into his chest, still trying to fight down laughter after this mornings episode. Draco sat with a huff down beside Hermione, but didn't look at her. They were all trying to stifle laughter, but failed miserably, so they all just burst into laughter to get it all out.

'You looked so, funny!' Hermione yelled between gasps of laughter. Draco shot daggers at her.

'Now I know why you really wanted the password for! You planned all of this, you pulled the prank on us!' Draco shouted. Hermione caught her breathe and sat up again from her position of laying on the grass.

'Well, it was all in good fun.' Hermione explained, getting a little scared at what Draco was going to do, for he looked like he was about to explode. Harry and Ron sat up and Sierra rested her head on Harry's lap, still giggling. Draco shot the worst glare her way that she visibly flinched.

'You know I'm going to get you back for this.' He said.

'I'd like to see you try!' Harry said. Draco gave him an evil look that just screamed, oh, I will, and turned back to Hermione.

'I'll get you back in different ways than I will them.' Draco said. Hermione shrugged, looking indifferently. Draco got an evil glint in his eye and Harry pulled Sierra out of harms way. Draco suddenly tackled Hermione and started to tickle her relentlessly. She started screaming for mercy, but he wouldn't stop straddling and tickling her. Harry, Ron, Ginny and Sierra were laughing there heads off at the silly couple and Harry took that moment to take a sweet kiss from Sierra, who complied happily. They ended up snogging on the ground, though no one noticed, and by the time any one did, they were rolling on the ground in laughter anyway, so no one noticed that they were snogging. Draco then noticed and scared the living daylights out of them.

'BOO!' He yelled in their ears. They jumped apart so suddenly that Harry had jumped off of her and landed on the ground beside her. The others were rolling on the ground in hysterical laughter. Just as they had calmed down enough to talk reasonably with each other, Pansy joined them, sitting on Ron's lap and snogging him. Everyone rolled their eyes as they didn't stop. Hermione sat on Draco's lap and leaned into his chest.

'I love you.' She whispered to him. He smiled at her and whispered in her ear, 'I love you more.' He snuggled his head down into her neck and kissed the sensitive skin there lovingly. She smiled to herself at how lucky she was to have him.

They went inside after a while and sat in the Great Hall to talk in a warm place that they were all allowed to be in. After a while they got bored and just sat down, not really doing anything. Hermione got a bright idea.

'Why don't we play Spin the Bottle?' She asked. The others looked at her curiously as Harry groaned.

'Do we have to?' He asked.

'Well, let's let the others decide. I'll tell you the rules and then you can decide if we play or not.' Hermione suggested. The others nodded in agreement and Hermione started to explain the rules.

'Okay, do any of you have a bottle?' She asked.

'Wait a sec, I'll go get one from the kitchens.' Draco said. He got up and ran down to the kitchens, returning a couple of minutes later with a Butterbeer bottle.

'Here you go.' He said, putting the bottle on the table and sat back down next to Hermione.

'Okay, there is one person who spins the bottle first and the person that it lands on has to either hug them, kiss their cheek, peck them on the mouth, kiss their chest, stomach, knee or foot, and then snog them, depending on how many times the bottle has landed on that person, with the other person spinning. For example, if I spin the bottle and it landed on, say, Draco, then he would first have to hug me, then, I spun it again and it landed on him again, then he would have to kiss me on the cheek, then, if I spun it again and it landed on someone different, the chain would start all over again, except Draco and I still stay on that, and the other person that the bottle had landed on would only be on hugging me. Okay, that was a really bad example, but I'll explain more of the rules as we go.' Hermione explained. She spun the bottle and it landed on Harry. She got up and gave Harry a hug.

'Okay Harry, now you spin the bottle.' Hermione instructed. He spun the bottle and it landed on Ginny.

'Now hug her.' Hermione explained. 'Oh, and we won't play gay or lesbian, that's just cruel on everyone.' She added. They nodded enthusiastically. 'Gin, spin the bottle.' Ginny spun the bottle and it landed on Hermione again.

'Spin again Gin, it has to land on a guy.' Hermione said.

'Oh, okay.' Ginny spun it again and it landed on Draco. 'Now you have to hug Draco.' Hermione said. Ginny got up and hugged Draco before sitting back down and casting an apologetic glance Hermione's way. Hermione smiled warmly at her and motioned for Draco to spin the bottle. He did and it landed on Sierra.

'Um, if I land on her heaps of times, do I really have to do that stuff to my cousin?' Draco asked after giving Sierra a hug. Hermione grinned.

'No, if you get Sierra too many times, and it starts to get awkward, then spin again, same with Ron and Ginny.' Hermione explained.

'Good, because there is no way in hell that I am doing half that stuff to my cousin.' Draco said. Ron and Ginny nodded vigorously. Hermione smiled.

'Sierra, your turn.' She pointed out. Sierra spun the bottle and it landed on Harry. She got and gave him a big hug, which he returned. Harry spun the bottle again and it landed on Hermione.

'What do I have to do now?' He asked cautiously. Hermione laughed.

'You have to kiss me on the cheek.' She answered. Harry leant over and kissed her quickly on the cheek before sitting back down with a crimson colour staining his cheeks. Hermione laughed again.

'Harry, you do know that when I had friends in the muggle world we used to play a worse version than this? You doing that is nothing compared to what we used to do.' Hermione said. Draco turned a rather nasty colour red and held onto her waist tighter.

'It was before I even knew you, you're safe.' Hermione said to him. He nodded jerkily and Hermione spun the bottle again. It landed on Ron. Hermione got up and gave Ron a hug. He hugged her back before she sat back down beside Draco. Ron spun the bottle and it landed on Pansy. Ron leant over and enveloped Pansy in a loving embrace. Pansy blushed lightly and spun the bottle. It landed on Harry. She went to hug him and sat back down.

'You know, this isn't very interesting.' Ron complained. The others nodded. Hermione grinned evilly.

'Oh, it gets better. Just you wait and see.' She replied. A couple of minutes later, it had gotten interesting. Draco had just kissed Pansy's chest and had turned bright red. Hermione had to try and hold back laughter, so she ended up crying from it. When Draco saw, he tried to apologise and said it was a dumb game, but Hermione couldn't take it any more and burst out laughing. Draco trying to apologise had made the situation a hell of a lot funnier.

'I was crying from holding back laughter, Draco, not because I was upset!' Hermione cried after catching her breath. Draco turned an even brighter red and sulked next to her for a while. Hermione put her arms around him and comforted him a little before telling him that he had to spin the bottle. Draco spun it and it landed on Hermione. He was up to kissing her stomach, so he leant down and placed a gentle kiss on the clothes covering it. She smiled as he came back up and cuddled into him. He smiled back at her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Everyone grinned wickedly at each other and said altogether, 'Awww.' Hermione glared at them before spinning the bottle. It landed on Ron. He turned pale at the prospect of snogging the girl that was basically another sibling to him. Hermione started leaning forwards. They only snogged for a little while, but that was all that was needed to make Draco very jealous and turn Ron incredibly red. Hermione was undeterred however, as she sat back down without a care in the world. Draco looked at her for a second before he realised that she was as embarrassed at kissing Ron as he was about kissing her, but she was just able to not show it. He leaned down and gently kissed the top of her head. She looked back up and smiled at him. He smiled back and they again settled into each others embrace just in time to watch Harry and Ginny snog one another and to see Sierra turn away. Draco smirked a little at his cousins' jealousy. When Harry and Ginny broke apart, Draco kicked Harry in the shins and looked pointedly at Sierra. Harry noticed and wrapped his arms his girlfriend. She looked up at him and gave him a small kiss, and then wrapped her arms around him in return. Harry then started to spin the bottle and it landed on Pansy. He stood up and kissed her knee before sitting back down and waiting resume the game. Pansy spun and it landed on Draco. Now it was Hermione's turn to be jealous of the two snogging, but when Draco surfaced, he pulled Hermione onto his lap and buried his head into her neck. She laughed at his stupid antics and kissed his head. She felt him smile, which, in turn, made her smile. Draco spun the bottle and it landed on Hermione. He quickly bent down and kissed her exposed knee. She smiled at this and giggled a little. It tickled. They all started laughing.

'How are we sure that he actually kissed your knee and not somewhere else?' Ron asked. Hermione shot him a dirty glare as Draco turned slightly pink at the suggestion and the others started laughing.

'Do you really want to check Ron?' Hermione asked. Ron turned red and shook his head. He really didn't want to check or know if Draco had actually done what he was supposed to do. The others were still laughing at what Ron had suggested when Hermione spun the bottle so hard it hit Ron in the head.

'Sorry Ron, but you deserved that, and it wasn't intentional.' Hermione added. The others were still laughing at Ron's misfortune when Sirius walked up with Lupin in step.

'Hey guys, what are you up to? Not mischief I hope.' Sirius asked, but he ruined the effect by winking at them.

'You do know that the wink you just gave us ruined the effect.' Hermione said, since she was the only one not laughing at Ron still. They stopped pretty quickly though.

'We're playing Spin the Bottle. It's a muggle game that Hermione though we should play.' Harry explained. Lupin and Sirius shared a smirk and the others looked wearily at each other, wondering what the first generation of Marauders was thinking.

'I remember that game. Your mother introduced it to us Harry, seemed to think it was a good idea, and they needed guys, so we happily volunteered. Though, it was actually James that hooked us into it. He wasn't going to pass up a chance to finally get to kiss Lily. It just so happened that they got together at the end of the game, while the rest of us were still single, though, we liked it that way. Peter wasn't going to get a girlfriend anyway.' Lupin said. Harry smiled at James' horniness as a teenager and wanting Lily that much.

_Well,_ he thought, _now I know how my parents got together._

'How long have you been playing for?' Sirius asked, sitting down beside them. Lupin followed his lead.

'About an hour, we had to start again after a while because we finished that circuit.' Harry explained.

'Which version?' Sirius asked.

'The non-dirty version.' Hermione answered. Sirius smirked. He had though so.

'That's no fun Hermione. You should have done the dirty one.' Sirius whined.

'Not in front of you lot we weren't.' Hermione snapped at him. Sirius barked in laughter.

'Thought you guys would be chicken.' Sirius teased.

'We didn't want to get in trouble by teachers. Considering that we shouldn't be playing this in the open anyway.' Hermione added in an undertone. Draco raised a questioning eyebrow at her and she blushed lightly. It wasn't like Hermione to play an illegal game at the school out in the open.

'Then why didn't you play it in an empty classroom?' Sirius asked.

'Because the Great hall was common ground, and it was warm.' Ron replied. Sirius laughed again.

'Typical. I thought so.' He muttered. Hermione shot him a look which he returned with his award-winning smile. She sighed and rolled her eyes. Typical Sirius.

'Well, do you know of any place with heating that could be called common ground?' Harry asked his Godfather. Sirius pondered the question, then turned back to face him.

'No, I don't, but you could ask the house-elves. They know this place back to front.' Sirius commented.

'Good idea, Dobby!' Harry called. At the mention of his name, Dobby appeared with a loud crack at Harry's side.

'Mr. Harry Potter called Dobby, sir?' Dobby asked.

'Yeah, I did. Is there any place in the castle that is heated, is a common ground for all houses and where nobody could find us? Where we could do whatever we wanted to do without being seen or known about by teachers?' Harry asked. Dobby got all excited all of a sudden.

'Yes Harry Potter, sir. It is called the Room of Requirement. Though, I don't think I should tell you about it in present company, sir.' Dobby muttered throwing looks at Professor Lupin. Harry and Lupin started chuckling.

'Don't worry Dobby, I won't tell anyone. I would like to know about this place. Hopefully it could save me going down to the Whomping Willow every month.' Lupin said. The others gave him sympathetic looks, well, all except Sierra, who had no idea what he talking about. Draco whispered it in her ear at the look on her face. Her eyes widened for a second before she too looked at him sympathetically.

'Maybe, we'd have to tell Dumbledore about it though, and maybe it's not a good idea that you are in the school Moony.' Sirius reasoned. 'At least when you're in the grounds you can run around, if you're in the castle you'd have to stay in the one room the entire time.' Lupin nodded absentmindedly. He would definitely rather running around rather than being kept in one room.

'So where is this place Dobby?' Draco asked. Dobby looked at his old master with fear in his eyes and wouldn't answer him. Draco sighed and rolled his eyes.

'I'm not going to hurt you, you know.' Draco said in an exasperated voice. Dobby looked around a little before answering.

'Well, sir, it is on the patch of wall across from the tapestry of Barnebus the Barmy, sir.' Dobby said. He was still a little scared of Draco and Draco knew it. He vowed to be nicer to the elf to gain his trust again, not just his fear. 'You have to walk in front of the wall three times, saying what you want the room to turn into, sir.'

'Why don't we go and find it then?' Harry proposed.

'Yeah sure.' Sierra said. Everyone nodded and they got up to leave with Sirius and Lupin following. They reached the seventh floor where the tapestry was and did the rest to what Dobby had instructed. Then, all of a sudden, a door started to appear on the wall. They looked at each other in shock. The door only took a couple of minutes to fully form, but when it did, it looked splendid. It was an old door that suited the rest of the castle. Harry reached forward and opened the door. When they walked inside and saw a huge hall with mirrors on every wall, reflecting them from every angle. They looked around in amazement, taking in everything they saw. The place had a huge library in one part of the room and armchairs and couches in another area. A fireplace crackled at the end of the room and the place was relatively warm, unlike the rest of the school which was rather cold.

'Wow, this place is amazing.' Hermione muttered. As usual, she walked over to the books and looked at the covers, running her fingers on them as she read them silently to herself.

'Just like you to go to the books first Hermione.' Draco teased gently, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. Hermione sent a playful glare his way and hugged his arms that were around her, smiling. He kissed her neck tenderly and squeezed her tightly, yet gently.

'This place could be put to good use.' He whispered lowly in her ear in his deep voice. Hermione shivered slightly and looked up at him. She looked at him firmly with a look on her face that clearly said she was not backing down on what she was about to say.

'I'm not ready for anything like that yet Draco. We only just started dating. Not yet.' She said to him. Draco's eyes widened at what she meant and quickly shock his head, a little embarrassed.

'No! I didn't mean that! I'm not ready for that either! No, no I just meant that we could sit and snog or something, not that.' He said frantically. Hermione grinned at the look she was receiving from him. He looked totally flustered and embarrassed at what Hermione had suggested.

'It's okay, I know you wouldn't do anything like that yet, you've changed, I know that. Anyway, I like your reason for coming here better.' She said seductively, turning around and wrapping her arms around his neck. Draco regained his composure and bent his head back down to her neck.

'Really?' He asked, placing light kisses on her neck, all the way up to her jaw. Hermione groaned lifting her head up and enjoyed the attention she was getting. Just then, they heard someone talk behind them.

'Would you two get a room and Draco would you stop sucking the skin off of Hermione's neck, I'm sure she wants to keep it on her body.' The voice commented. They turned around to reveal a rather amused looking Ginny with her hands on her hips and her eyebrows raised. Hermione and Draco shot glares at her and walked out to the others to join them. Ginny followed behind them, snickering.

'This place is amazing; I didn't know that Hogwarts had a place like this.' Harry said in awe, still looking around the room as Draco, Hermione and Ginny walked up to them.

'You don't know much about this place any way Harry, not even Dumbledore knows everything about it.' Hermione said. Harry chose to ignore this comment and rounded on them.

'I'm guessing you've already taken a look at the Library then.' Harry said, smirking. Hermione shot him a glare and Draco turned slightly pink, but tried to bring it down to his usual pale skin colour. He was obviously trying to hide the embarrassment at being caught being intimate with Hermione.

'Shut up Harry.' Hermione said, breaking Draco out of his reverie. Harry just smirked at her and turned back to look around; luckily he hadn't noticed Draco's embarrassed colouring. He would have made his life living hell. Draco took Hermione's hand and squeezed it gently, smiling down at her. She smiled back up at him and leaned into his chest. Draco's smile broadened at the warm body leaning on him and he wrapped his arms around her.

'Hang on, where's Ron and Pansy?' Ginny asked. They all turned to look at her and then started looking around to find them. Sirius was the one to find them at the back of the library snogging like there was no tomorrow. Sirius snickered and brought the others over to see them; they hadn't noticed them standing there yet. Once everyone was standing around, Sirius cleared his throat loudly. They two of them jumped apart and went redder than Ron's hair. The others started laughing at the loudly at the look on their friends' faces. They sent glares their way, even though their faces were still bright red.

After a while of sitting around and talking, it was about time for Lunch.

'Can we go get Lunch, I'm starved.' Ron asked. The others rolled their eyes and relented.

'Sure Ron, I was sure Pansy had satisfied your hunger though.' Draco commented. Ron glared at him and Pansy turned bright red. Draco snickered and they got up to go to Lunch; which was a quick affair. They ate quickly and went back to the Room of Requirement to spend more time talking about things that they couldn't when they were surrounded by other students and teachers. Lupin was alright because he was a member of the Order and they could talk about anything in front of him. Including things that they wouldn't be able to with any other teacher, like relationships and what they had done in them. They started to play what could have been a game of Truth or Dare without the Dare. They were just constantly asking each other questions about their lives and things like that. It was quite hilarious as they told the truth about anything and everything that they were asked. It was highly amusing to hear all this stuff about their friends that they didn't know before, or hadn't been told about.

'Hermione who was your first crush?' Harry asked, hoping to get a reaction out of Draco, who took the bait. His grip on Hermione tightened and she smiled up at him, squeezing him gently before answering Harry's question.

'He was a boy that went to my muggle primary school. His name was Cameron Theron. He was really nice to me and we were what you could call friends. I found myself thinking that I did have a small crush on him but it amounted to anything more because it eventually faded and I never acted on it. Plus, he was more into the slutty girls for girlfriends anyway. It wouldn't have worked.' Hermione explained. Draco's grip on her had lessened when she said that it had eventually faded. Hermione smiled up at him again and held him tighter, kissing him on the cheek quickly and snuggled back down into him. He smiled at her and held her tighter, kissing the top of her head lightly.

'Ron who are you related to distantly that you wish you weren't?' Hermione asked. Ron had a thoughtful expression on his face and then looked back at her.

'The Nott's, I think we are related to them. I'm not sure. Some type of cousin of ours I think. Oh well, yeah, I don't like being related to them. And it's definitely distant. About five times removed and way back on Dad's side. They also don't admit they are related to a bunch of Blood Traitors like our family. Which is good because then nobody knows and we can keep it a secret between the families.' Ron said. 'Promise you won't tell anyone? I don't want the world knowing that the Weasley's are distant relatives of the Nott's.' He asked. They all nodded at the astounding revelation. None of them had ever suspected that to come to light.

'Harry what is the worst thing that the Dursley's ever did to you?' Ron asked, convinced that they wouldn't say anything to anyone else. Harry visibly flinched and Sierra held him. He stole a glance at her and saw it was full of concern. _This is going to be hard to discuss with them._ He took a deep breathe and tried to remember.

'Well, they locked me in that damn cupboard until I was eleven, then I upgraded to Dudley's second bedroom, they starved me for days on end if I accidentally did any magic without knowing. I remember once I made a glass panel at the zoo where a snake was in captivity disappear when Dudley was leaning on it because he was being a prick to me and then he fell into the water. The snake crawled out and the glass on the cage came back and Dudley was trapped in there until the reptile manager had to come and let him out the back. That would have been incredibly funny if Uncle Vernon hadn't been looking at me murderously. I think I should be glad I survived the ordeal. I was chased up a tree by Uncle Vernon's sister Marge's dog, Ripper. That was an experience that I will never forget. I've been almost bashed my cousin, basically a slave in my own house. I don't really know which one is worse. I still don't know why you people don't know why my reflexes are so good. I've had to duck more blows in my life than most people have.' Harry said, deliberately not looking Sierra in the eye. She was looking at him with deep passion and concern for his well-being.

'Well, everything is fine now because I can now live with Sirius in peace and not have to put up with those bastards any more. They've been treating me reasonably better ever since third year and I found out about Sirius being my Godfather. I used him as a threat. Mostly it was that they would be turned into a bat if they mistreated me. It was funny to watch Dudley's reaction to this. His eyes would widen and then he would grab his fat ass because the first encounter he had with a wizard was when Hagrid came and told me that I was a wizard. He gave Dudley a pig's tail and ever since he's been terrified of them. Oh, and last year when the Weasley's came to get me from my house so that they could take me back to the Burrow to go to the Quidditch World Cup. Fred and George dropped a bunch of ton-tongue toffees on the floor and they purposely missed some so that they could try it out on Dudley. His tongue was at least five feet long before the Dursley's would let Mr. Weasley turn it back to its normal length. I remember Uncle Vernon throwing the china at both of us and yelling his head off before I left through the floo. Then I remember you guys getting yelled at when he came home and then the threat of telling Mrs. Weasley, which he wasn't actually going to do, then she came in and asked him about it and he went really pale. That's when we all left the room, hoping not to get in trouble from her for what happened. Then I remember the screaming.' Harry said with a slight smile. Ron was laughing at the memory.

'I remember that! Fred and George got in so much trouble that day! We had to avoid mum for ages because we were too afraid that she would blow up or something! I remember her picking up that spelled wand that turned into a rubber chicken. She nearly went off her nut!' Ron said while laughing hard at what he had remembered. The others were laughing with him as they both retold it in full detail, not leaving out anything, from the beginning. When they finished, nearly everyone was rolling on the floor laughing.

'Okay, okay, Draco, what's the worst thing that has happened to you?' Harry asked once they were all silent again and the laughter had died down. But his question had a bigger effect than he had thought. Draco's face had fallen incredibly fast and Pansy looked frightened. Hermione looked worriedly at him and wondered what was so bad about Draco's life.

'Well, apart fro having the Cruciatus Curse placed on me as soon as I walk through the door when I get home after the holidays, I've been tortured using muggle methods, and stuff like that. Don't ask me to go into it, because I won't.' He answered stiffly. Hermione had tears running down her face as she heard what the man she loved had been through. She couldn't imagine ever having to go through something like that. She held him tight and buried her head in his chest. He kissed the top of her head lightly and whispered reassuring things into her ear.

'I'm sorry Draco.' Harry muttered. He looked it too. Harry might have been through some crap stuff, but it was nothing compared to what Draco had to go through every time he went home, and now it would be worse for him if he ever saw his father again because of his love for Hermione.

'Don't worry, I'm out of there now, no more father, no more mother. Just the people that I actually love.' He said. He looked back down at Hermione silently crying onto his chest. He tightened his arms around her and whispered reassuring things into her ear. _To stop her crying I'm going to need to continue this or get us to leave. First option. _

'Alright, Pansy, When did you realise that you had feelings for Ron?' Draco asked, hoping to lighten the mood that was slowly getting more congestive. Pansy blushed scarlet and Ron listened intently. Hermione lifted her head from Draco's chest and faced the blushing couple.

'Third year.' She mumbled. Ron was going an even brighter red, seeming as he was the only one to have heard what she said.

'What was that Pansy? I didn't hear it?' Draco asked teasingly. Pansy shot him a glare and straightened her back, gaining composure.

'Since Third year.' She answered loudly. Everyone in the room let out a resounding 'Awww.' They both shot them all glares and snuggled in closer to one another, which just gave they others more of a chance to annoy them with another round of, 'Awww.' They ignored it this time as Pansy looked around to see who she would ask.

'Gr-Hermione. Sorry, old habits die hard. Um, what was your initial reaction to what Draco did on the train, you know, being nice to you and all.' Pansy asked. Hermione didn't have to think about this much, but she did smile at the shock she remembered having when she heard Draco say sorry to her.

'Well, at first I was frozen with shock at actually hearing the Draco Malfoy saying sorry to a muggleborn, let alone one that he'd hated since first year. Then, after the initial shock wore off, I was completely confused. Though, Harry had his theories.' Hermione added. Harry smirked at her and everyone laughed.

'Ah, yes, my speculations that turned out to be completely true. You owe Ron and I an apology.' Harry stated. Hermione stuck her tongue out at him.

'Why? You were both still being assholes about it. I'm not apologising about something that you deserved.' She answered back with a playful withering glare. Harry just feigned hurt and then, failing miserably, burst into laughter. Everyone soon followed on with his laughter. Hermione looked down at her watch and gasped.

'We better get going or we will be late for dinner.' She said over the noise of her friends' laughter. They calmed down soon and went to dinner. Hermione told Draco the spell to switch back their clothing to boys' clothing and went to bed soon after her hearty meal.

Now you get to press the little button that says, 'Go' on it. It's just down there. I promise the next one won't be as long a wait. Review!


	9. Chapter Nine

Christmas at the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black

December came sooner than everyone expected, and soon they were all packed into a compartment with all their trunks and pets. Hedwig was sitting on Harry's lap again and Crookshanks was sitting next to Hermione. It turned out that Ron was not the only one with a dislike for the cat. Draco had also not taken to it well. Apparently, when he was younger, he had a run in with a particularly ferrel cat that scratched deep gashes into his arms and face. His father had healed them by magic, but had then punished Draco for crying at the gashes running down is body. Hermione had winced when she had heard the story, so she agreed not to take her cat out of the basket. Draco had thanked her and they had an enjoyable ride back, laughing, talking and generally having fun. They pulled up at the station later that night and got off the train, taking all their stuff with them.

After finding Sirius and Lupin standing on the platform waiting for them, for they were on the train, except in a different compartment, they made their way outside of the station and down a side alley without anyone spotting them. As soon as they reached the darkest point in the alley, Sirius pulled an old beer bottle out of his pocket. Hermione and Harry raised an eyebrow at him, but he merely shrugged.

'Dumbledore gave it to me.' He whispered in explanation. Harry and Hermione shivered at the thought and took hold of the bottle, with Sierra, Draco, Ginny and Lupin following soon after. Then Sirius tapped the object with his new wand, and they instantly felt a tug behind their navel, and the next thing they knew, they had landed in front of a large square of houses, then, all of a sudden, the place showed up in front of their eyes, bit by bit, very slowly, painfully slowly actually, and then it was there. Sirius walked forward and opened the door to let the others in first with a sweep of his arm. Hermione and Ginny smiled at him as they passed and Sierra and Draco just took in everything they went passed, staring at everything with awe. Harry and Ron just walked in without even looking up, their conversation was very important. Lupin was the last in before Sirius closed the door with a snap behind himself. The snap just happened to wake up Sirius' well known mother.

'_Filth! Blood Traitors! Mudbloods! Scu-!'_ But that was about as far as she got before Sirius yelled 'SHUT UP!' and sent a spell her way to close her curtains. Everyone had made their way down into the kitchens to find the rest of the Weasley troop and Draco and Sierra where left there stunned. Hermione came back out looking for them

'Come on. We're all in the kitchen. What's wrong? You act like you've just had your death told to you, and its coming up soon.' Hermione joked, giggling.

'What was that?' Draco asked, still a little shocked. She giggled again.

'That was Sirius' mother. Apparently she put an everlasting sticking charm on the back of her portrait, so Sirius can't remove it. Every time someone rings the doorbell, or knocks something over, or yells really loud, she erupts into all these insults about muggleborns, blood traitors, scum, all that type of stuff. She gives you a huge headache though if you allow her to go on about it too long. Come on, everyone's in the kitchen waiting for you. Don't worry, everyone's been told of the situation, and as long as you're nice to them, they'll be nice to you.' Hermione said. She took Draco's hand and ushered Sierra along behind her.

They came to the kitchen quickly and Draco took in the sight before him. There, before him, sat the entire Order of the Phoenix, accompanied by the rest of the Weasley family and Sirius. Hermione pulled him over to where she had saved seats for them. She put Draco down in the seat next to hers and Sierra sat in the seat next to Harry. That's when Draco caught sight of Alastor Moody. His eyes went wide, he turned pale and shifted his gaze to the floor. Hermione caught sight of this and stifled laughter. Moody was oblivious though, he didn't know what his infiltrator had done in his body while he was locked in a chest. Harry had also seen Draco's reaction and was stifling laughter. No one noticed the two giggling and chuckling though, because the room was full of laughter and talking.

After about fifteen minutes, Sirius clapped his hands for quiet.

'How about dinner?' He asked, smiling brightly. Everyone cheered as he called for the house-elf.

'Kreacher!' He yelled. Kreacher came into the room with a crack that no one heard and stood waiting patiently next to Sirius, though, he was muttering under his breath. 'Bring dinner out, would you. And you better not have burned it!' Sirius called after the little elf, seeming as he disappeared after the first sentence was said. He returned soon after bearing dinner though, and it didn't look burnt at all. Hermione smiled at the elf as he put her dinner down on the table.

'Thank you Kreacher.' She said politely. Kreacher just kept mumbling to himself as he kept going along the table. Draco turned to whisper in her ear.

'He isn't really a people person, is he?' He asked her. Hermione shook her head with a strange look on her face.

'No, not really, but I'm just polite to him because no one else is.' She returned. Draco nodded and they started to eat their dinner quickly. Once done, all the kids were shipped upstairs by Mrs. Weasley and Hermione and Harry showed Sierra and Draco where they were sleeping. They each said goodnight to each other before dropping into their beds and falling into an exhausted sleep.

The next morning, Draco woke up happy. For once in his life he didn't have to wake up to the sneering face of his father as he beat him to get up. Looking to his left and right, he saw that Harry and Ron were still asleep. Draco laid in bed for a while and just thought about everything. His father, Hermione, Sierra, Harry, Ron, Pansy, everything.

After a while he heard noise and voices from downstairs, so he decided to get dressed and go down to get breakfast. When he opened the door to the Kitchen, he saw Tonks, Hermione, Ginny, Mrs. Weasley and Sierra all sitting at the table.

'Draco! You're up! I think this is the first time a guy has been up before 10 before.' Hermione teased, going up to him and giving him a hug. Draco wasn't awake enough to even glare at her, so he just wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.

'Morning.' Draco muttered to everyone. 'What's for breakfast?'

'Come sit down, dear, I'll fix you up something nice.' Mrs. Weasley said as she bustled over to the bench and cupboard. She came back a moment later carrying a bowl of steaming hot porridge.

'Thank you.' Draco said as he dug into it. He was starving. Hermione giggled as he shoved the food into his mouth. Sierra glared at him in disgust and Ginny raised an eyebrow at him.

'What? I'm hungry.' He said after he had swallowed.

'Well, at least he swallows before telling us he's hungry.' Ginny said.

'True, Ron can be such a pig.' Hermione said.

'Can be? Is! I swear, I don't know anyone who is a bigger pig than he is.' Ginny replied. Hermione and Sierra laughed at this and the boys slowly traipsed into the Kitchen, pulling bowls of porridge towards them. They mumbled something that could have resembled a good morning on some distant planet and began shovelling food into their mouths. Ginny raised an eyebrow at Hermione and she grimaced, knowing the younger girl was telling the truth about their friends and brother.

'Do you two boys know where Fred and George are? They didn't come down for breakfast this morning and I don't think they came home from work last night.' Mrs. Weasley fretted. Harry swallowed before speaking.

'They didn't. Don't worry Mrs. Weasley, they'll be fine. They are good wizards you know, they just don't like to show it.' Harry said, shrugging. Mrs. Weasley still looked worriedly at the door and wrung her hands. Next to come down for breakfast were Remus and Sirius. They weren't as tired as the other boys, but plonked into their seats all the same, and pulled their own bowls toward them. There was scarce talking as people ate their breakfast, but soon things got a lot rowdier. Fred and George entered the house, looking incredibly hung over.

The look on Mrs. Weasley's face was priceless.

'WHAT DO YOU TWO THINK YOU WERE DOING STAYING OUT ALL NIGHT!! THEN HAVING THE GALL TO COME IN HUNG OVER!! I AM ASHAMED TO CALL YOU MY SONS!!' Mrs. Weasley screamed. Hermione, Harry and Ron quickly grabbed the Malfoy's and dragged them out of the door with Sirius and Remus following close behind.

Of course, Mrs. Black had started on her yelling tangent yet again, but there was no real point to shutting her up if Mrs. Weasley was just going to keep yelling.

Fred and George were holding their hands over their ears and wishing that their mother would stop yelling her head off at them. They had a headache as it was.

The others quietly and quickly walked up the stairs and into the boys room, with Sirius and Remus heading into Sirius' room to talk privately. Before they left though, they got Sirius to put a silencing charm on the door so they could talk without having to listen to the ranting of Mrs. Weasley.

'Is it always like this around here?' Draco asked. They had all seated themselves on the beds, Draco and Hermione on Draco's, Harry and Sierra on Harry's and Ron and Ginny sat on Ron's.

'Only when they Weasley's are here. And they always set up residence here for the holidays so we can all stay together. The Weasley are also in the Order, so it's easier for them to attend the meetings if they live in the Headquarters. Sirius would probably get bored without all this company anyway.' Harry said. Draco nodded and laid down on his bed with his hands behind his head and stared at the ceiling. Hermione followed his lead and laid down next to him. She put her head on his chest and closed her eyes, snuggling close to him. He smiled down at her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders and rubbed them gently. She opened her eyes and smiled warmly at him. Draco looked up and saw that Harry and Sierra were in their own world, and Ron and Ginny were talking about something of their own kind. Draco turned to face his loved one and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her towards him. Hermione opened her eyes to looked straight into Draco's, which made her jump a bit, which made him chuckle. She glared playfully at him before settling into a comfortable position beside him. Her head was resting against his chest and her arms were wrapped tightly around him. She smiled and sighed contently before snuggling deeper into his embrace.

Draco stared at the beauty in his arms. It was almost impossible to believe that he had once hated her beyond any one else, apart from Harry. He kissed the top of her head and leaned his head down close to her ear.

'Will you be my girlfriend Hermione?' He asked, quietly. Hermione looked up suddenly and she gave him the biggest and brightest smile she had ever given anyone. She nodded her head and kissed him full on the lips.

'Of course I will. I'd love that.' She whispered back. Draco smiled back down at her and captured her lips again. He pulled her up to eye level and the kiss deepened. She slid her tongue against his lips and he quickly opened her mouth to let her in. He rolled onto his back, taking Hermione with him. She squealed a little about being pulled on top of him, but soon got used to the idea. Hey, she had already lost her innocence, she should know.

Draco snuck his hands up the back of her shirt and rubbed the soft skin on her back gently. He could tell she liked things gentle, and he didn't want to push her in front of all of them, though they didn't look like they would have noticed anyway. Well, Ron and Ginny may have, and that was worse then Harry and Sierra noticing.

He felt Hermione pull away and looked up into her smiling eyes.

'I love you.' She whispered.

'I love you more.' He teased. Hermione laughed quietly and rested her head on his chest again and stroked it lovingly. Hermione sighed in contentment again and listened to Draco's racing heart. Apparently he liked it when they kissed. But she noticed that his heart never slowed.

_Maybe it's because I'm laying on him._ Hermione thought. She smiled at the thought and rolled off of him. She was such a tease.

She heard Draco groan at the loss of contact, and she giggled, before resting her head on him again, only to have him pull her back up onto him. He wrapped his arms around her waist securely so she couldn't get off him again.

Hermione stole a glance over at Harry and Sierra. What she saw made her instantly make up her mind to leave. She pointed out this to Draco and he nodded, not wanting to see his cousin screw Harry. Hermione got Ron and Ginny's attention and pointed to them. Ginny's eyes went wide as galleons and Ron just went bright red. They both jumped up and started to leave, with Draco and Hermione following close behind.

'I never want to see that again.' Ginny said once they got outside the bedroom.

'You're not the only one.' Ron and Draco muttered. Hermione was in a fit of giggles. The boys just stared at her and took it, but Ginny started to giggle soon and then both girls were in fits of hysterical laughter.

'Why are you laughing? Seeing that wasn't funny!' Draco said. This just made the girls laugh harder. Ron and Draco sighed and lead the two hysterical girls down to the Lounge Room and sit them on the couches. By that time they had calmed down sufficiently and were starting to just come to term with smiles. Hermione leaned into Draco's chest on the couch and they began to talk with the other two.

About half an hour later, Sirius and Remus waked in with a huge tree in their hands and positioned it in one of the far corners to where they were sitting. Sirius noticed something was amiss.

'Where's Harry and Sierra?' He asked. Ron went bright red again and the girls started to giggle.

'Thanks Sirius, we'd only just got them to stop laughing. They're upstairs, Harry's probably deflowering her by now. And since it is a silenced room, we can't tell, and might I add, don't want to know.' Draco said. Sirius nodded in understanding and Remus' eyes went wide. He obviously wasn't expecting that answer.

'And you don't care?' Sirius asked, surprised that Draco didn't seem to care that his most loved relative was probably getting screwed over right now.

'I learnt how to not show my emotions at the age of six. I haven't really showed emotion ever since. But, I am trying to restrain myself from launching up those stairs and pulling Sierra down here by her ear.' Draco said, glaring up the stairs. Sirius laughed a little before cupping his hands around his mouth.

'Hey Harry! Better watch out! Draco's going to kill you for screwing his cousin!' Sirius yelled. The lot of them laughed. Although, it was a fruitless attempt at a warning because Harry couldn't hear a word.

'Shhh, don't give it away.' Draco said jokingly. They all laughed a little more before Sirius spoke up again.

'Hey, do you want to help me with decorating this stinking place for the festive holiday? Seeming as my Godson won't!' Sirius called up the stairs.

'You know he can't hear you Sirius. There really is no point yelling at the boy.' Remus said, holding his head in his hand. Sirius shrugged.

'So? At least I can say that I yelled at the boy at least once in his lifetime.' Sirius said. They started laughing for a second until Draco stood up slowly, causing Hermione to lay back on the couch.

'If you fart Draco Malfoy I will be forced to kill you when I wake from unconsciousness.' Hermione warned. Draco shot a glare at her as everyone laughed at Hermione's warning.

'Fine then.' And without warning, Draco jumped onto her and started to tickle her fiercely. Hermione started to squeal like little girl and Ginny started to help out Draco.

'Get off! Get off! Stop! Please! I'm begging you! Stop!' Hermione yelled between laughter.

'What do you say?' Draco asked.

'I already said please!' Hermione yelled.

'Nope, not the word I'm looking for.' Draco said. Hermione continued to squeal as the blonde and red-head continued to tickle her.

'Sorry!' She screamed. Draco stopped tickling her at the sound of the word. But didn't get off her.

'Why are you still on top of me?' She asked once she had caught her breathe again. Draco shrugged.

'Because I feel like it.' He answered. Hermione just shook her head at him and looked at Sirius.

'Of course we will help with the decorations. Where do we start?' Hermione asked. Sirius grinned.

'You guys can start in the Kitchen, Remus and I will start in this room, Molly is doing the upstairs rooms, just on the outside, if you guys want you're rooms done then you will have to do them yourselves. The Twins are doing the Library and Tonks is doing the Hallway.' Sirius said, but he was interrupted by a resounding, _CRASH!_ From downstairs in the Hallway.

'Sorry!' Damn Troll leg!' Came the cry. Sirius and Remus chuckled at her and then sent them off to get the Christmas decorations and to start on the Kitchen. For the rest of the day, they put Christmas decorations around the house and everyone, including Harry and Sierra, helped with putting the Chrissie decs on the tree. Draco and Sierra put the Angel on, seeming as they had never been to a Black Christmas before, and they were now pretty much members of the family.

That night everyone sat around the fire enjoying the heat.

Hermione was curled up on Draco's lap, with him softly stroking her hair, Sierra and Harry were curled up on a chair, both of them were about to fall asleep. Ron was already snoring on one chair and Ginny had already gone to bed. Molly and Arthur had turned in as well as Sirius and Remus. The Twins had decided to go to bed early too, they wanted to get up early the next morning to wake everyone up with a bang. They were all hoping it wasn't literal. Though, they knew it was.

During the day, everyone had wrapped their presents for each other and placed them under the tree that evening. Many were oddly shaped and the ones from Fred and George people were reluctant to open. Some were small, but on the other had some were massive.

During the day, Sirius had kept giving Harry odd looks, like, I know something you don't know, type looks. Sometimes they were worried, others mysterious, but all-in-all, he kept looking at Harry throughout the day, not that Harry noticed though, he was too taken by Sierra to spend many people much thought.

Draco looked down at the sleeping angel in his arms and decided to take her up to bed, she would sleep better there than on that old couch.

He bid a silent goodbye to Harry and Sierra and bridal carried Hermione up to her room. When he got there, he placed her on her bed carefully, but maybe not carefully enough, because Hermione started to stir. She turned over to find Draco heading for the door when she decided that she wanted him to stay.

'Draco.' She whispered. Draco stopped abruptly. He wasn't expecting her to hear him taking her into her room. He turned around and smiled softly to the sleepy girl. He sat on the edge of the bed and stroked her hair, like he had been doing all night. She looked up at him and smiled.

'Will you stay with me?' She asked quietly. Draco wasn't expecting that either, and looked a little taken aback for a moment before he smiled at her and got underneath the blanket behind her and wrapped his arms around her from behind.

'You happy now?' He asked gently. He felt her nod her head and then felt her deep breathing. His angel was already asleep. He smiled to himself and brushed a strand of hair away from her shoulder before kissing it lightly and putting his head back onto the pillow and burying his head into her hair. His last conscious thought was that he hoped she liked his present tomorrow.


	10. Chapter Ten

A/N: Yes, here it is! Again, I am sorry that this has taken so long, but it took some time to perfect. So, without furtther ado, here is chapter, whatever it is. I really can't remember since I never write the chapter numbers, he. Have fun reading and reviewing! (hint, hint)

Christmas Miracles

The next morning, Draco woke to the sweet smell of Hermione. He opened his eyes and saw the sleeping girl laying in front of him. He smiled to himself and felt her stir. She turned over and faced him and smiled sleepily. Draco could tell that she was still half asleep.

'Morning angel. I didn't want to wake you. Did you sleep well?' He whispered. Hermione nodded sleepily and snuggled deeper into his loving embrace and tried to go back to sleep. Draco smiled at her tired form again and leaned down to kiss the top of her head. His lips lingered in the crown of her head.

'Merry Christmas baby.' He murmured. She looked up and kissed him gently on the lips, smiling slightly.

'Merry Christmas to you too. Baby.' She whispered. She looked over to Sierra and Ginny's bed to find Ginny asleep and Sierra nowhere to be seen.

'Where's Sierra? Did she stay downstairs with Harry?' She whispered. Draco gave a small shrug.

'I didn't hear them come up, but then again, I fell asleep soon after you did.' He said quietly. She started to talk again, but Draco put a finger to her lips to silence her and bent low again, taking her lips in a tender, loving, soft kiss. Hermione responded after coming out the initial shock of having him kiss her. Though, she was a little worried about her bad morning breath. She felt his soft tongue trail a line across her lips between his. She smiled into the kiss and opened her mouth slowly, making him want it even more. Draco entered her mouth slowly and they snogged softly for a while.

They stopped kissing when they heard Ginny stir and quickly got up and dressed. They made their way downstairs to eat breakfast. They met everyone downstairs and started to talk and eat. After many exchanges of 'Merry Christmas,' and Ginny came down, they went to sit under the Christmas Tree, and started to unwrap the presents. Everyone enjoyed opening their presents and finding out what they were.

Hermione opened hers from Draco and nearly burst into tears. It was a beautiful set of matching jewellery. The necklace had a ruby drop in the centre of a gold heart and the earrings where gold hearts with the same red ruby drop in the centre and the bracelet had a matching gold heart and drop. Hermione kissed him passionately before enveloping him in a massive hug and letting the tears flow down her cheeks.

'Do you like it?' Draco asked. Hermione was still smiling extremely brightly and looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

'Like it? I love it! I've never got anything like this before. This is the best present ever.' She answered. Draco smiled brightly and kissed her lightly. The rest of the morning was full of surprises, but the biggest was Sirius's.

At lunch, he stood up after everyone had finished and held his arms wide for silence.

'I would just like to say to Harry that I'm sorry he didn't get his present from me this morning when we were opening them all, but it can't get here until at least dinner tonight. So don't worry, it will come, just later. And I know that you will like it.' Sirius announced. Harry nodded and wondered what on earth his present could be if it was getting here later at night.

Everyone ate merrily, talked and made do with their Christmas presents that day. The Weasleys and Harry wore their jumpers with pride, even Draco got a green one with a silver D in the middle. Hermione smiled as he put it on with a sour face, but it was either put it on, on his own, or have Fred and George put it on him forcefully. He chose the first option and put it on himself. He found it was actually quite warm.

'You look cute.' Hermione had said while giggling. Draco had glared at her and grabbed her around the waist and pulled her in front of him so her back was to him and she covered most of the jumper from view. Hermione had laughed louder and turned around in his arms, kissing him lightly. He had pulled her in closer and kissed her again, and just as things had started to get heated, Ginny had tapped them on the shoulder and raised an eyebrow at them. Draco had grinned cheekily, while Hermione had let a light blush grace her cheeks.

Ron had received a package from Pansy via her owl and he quickly opened it to discover a rose with a picture of the two together that had a silver and gold picture frame. In the picture, Ron and Pansy would kiss softly before turning back to face the camera and wave. They had gotten Colin Creevey to take the picture on the last Hogsmeade weekend of the term. Ron had quickly wrapped up his present for her and sent it back with her owl with a note that said: _Merry Christmas, sweetheart._ The owl had gone quickly and Ron was left admiring her thoughtful gift to him.

Hermione had got a package from her mother and father as well. They had gotten her another book called _Beauty and the Beast_, a pair of pretty silver earrings, which Draco said were his favourite so far because of the colour, and a photo album for her to put all her pictures in to show her parents when she came home for the week at the end of the year.

As usual, Harry got his present from the Dursley's, which, this year, consisted of a pair of well worn socks, and, surprisingly, a watch, which actually worked and told the right time. Harry was still suspicious about it though, so he put it aside and continued to wear his old one for good measure.

Sierra had received a package from home as well, from her mother and father, and opened it with glee. Mrs. Weasley and Sierra's mother must have gotten along really well, because Sierra got a cotton jumper that she said her mother always made for her and a whole bunch of chocolates and lollies along with some meat pies. She was incredibly happy that her parents had thought the same as Draco's did, otherwise she would have been in big trouble with them, and if she ever got married to Harry, then she would want them at the wedding.

Draco had also received a present from home, but being a Malfoy and knowing that his father was bent on killing him, he let Sirius, Remus and Moody look over the package before he opened it. They found nothing out of the ordinary or cursed inside the package, but Draco still opened it carefully and made sure no one, especially Hermione was in the room when he did.

When he had opened the gift, he found the note on the inside and quickly picked it up to read it. The gift was from his mother and Lucius knew nothing about it. He had received the usual sweets and even got a male necklace that had a silver Dragon hanging from it in a very menacing position. Draco had always loved the gifts that his mother gave him, but now he didn't because if Lucius found out about his mother sending him them, she would surely be punished for her insolence.

Draco came out soon after he had opened it and checked through the present and shown everyone what he had being given. They all loved his gift and Draco had decided to give the necklace he had gotten from his mother to Hermione, who looked completely flabbergasted at being given one of his gifts, but he had a reason for giving it to her.

'Now, if anyone sees it, they will know that you belong to me, and nothing will stop that.' Draco had told her as he had put it around her neck. Hermione smiled and kissed him sweetly on the lips again before falling into his warm embrace. Draco knew that his decision would not be for nothing.

Now it was later that night and Harry was getting incredibly fidgety, and Sirius had noticed. He had smirked at the boy and given tiny hints to him all day that made absolutely no sense to poor Harry.

Right now, Sirius was looking at him with the biggest grin on his face and was deliberately eating slowly to set the boy off. The man was such an incredible tease when it came to stuff like this. Harry kept shooting him glares across the table and Sirius was soon in laughter from them, they obviously didn't affect him as much as Harry would have liked them to.

Once finished eating, Sirius had stood up slowly and held his arms up for silence even slower. Harry had immediately perked for attention and people had slowly quietened down.

'Now, this is the moment Harry has been waiting for all day, but first I have to check and see if it's ready, everyone continue talking until I return.' Sirius said and quietly but quickly left the table and went to the front door, where, if anyone actually saw him, they would have seen him talking to a man in a black cloak with a hood that was brought down over his head and talking quietly in return. They would have seen Sirius nod his head and let the man in.

The man followed Sirius through the door and down the hall to where the Kitchen was. Sirius held up a hand to the man, telling him to wait, then slipped through the door himself to get into the Kitchen.

When in the Kitchen, Sirius held his arms up for quiet.

'Now, Ladies and Gentleman, I hereby present, Harry Potter's Christmas Present!' Sirius called once his command was met. There was only one problem with the gift, it didn't come in. Sirius turned towards the door and repeated himself again. Still nothing happened. Harry raised an eyebrow at his Godfather and Sirius walked over to the door and stuck his head through.

'That was when you were supposed to come in!' They all heard him say annoyedly. They heard a voice talk back.

'Oh, sorry, I didn't know.' You could tell that all through the voice was dripping sarcasm. You could just tell that Sirius was glaring at the man for his obvious lack of seriousness in the situation. Sirius stuck his head back through the door and mimicked the man that was talking on the other side.

Harry looked over at Remus to see him looking at the door in suspicion. He recognized that voice, it was a voice that he never thought he would ever hear again. He was wondering how on earth it could possibly be that he was alive.

Sirius stood back up to the end of the table and again asked for silence.

'Okay, maybe it might work this time!' Sirius called over his shoulder and they all heard a snigger come from behind the door. 'Now, can everyone please welcome Harry's Christmas Present!' Sirius called, but this time, someone did come in, but the had a big black cloak over his body and a hood over his head so no one could see his face.

Sirius narrowed his eyes at the man who was making this incredibly hard. Harder than it should've been.

'You weren't supposed to come in with the cloak on, you idiot.' He said. Everyone could see the man in the cloak's body shake with light laughter, and hear it too. Moody was the first to draw his wand on the man.

'Are you sure you've made a good decision Sirius? You could have brought an intruder into our midst.' Moody said, keeping his wand trained on the man in front of him. Sirius roared in laughter.

'You'll certainly think so when and if he decides to take the damn cloak off, be the way, if you don't take it off now, I will tackle you and take it off for you.' Sirius directed to the stranger in the cloak. The man shook with laughter again and reached forward to withdraw his hood. Sirius sighed as he did it slowly.

'Hurry up, already!' Sirius said. Everyone was waiting with baited breath to see who was under that cloak. The man whipped off the cloak at his words and turned to face him.

'Fast enough for you?' He asked. Sirius nodded and looked at everyone's faces, they were of utter shock and surprise, the Weasley Twins had even fallen out of their chairs. Sirius searched for Harry's face, it was there, with tears slowly streaming down his cheeks. Sirius just knew that Sierra had his hand under the table and was slowly rubbing it.

'What does everyone think?' Sirius asked, trying to get some other emotion out of them but shock. The first thing that happened was that Remus had gotten out of his chair and made his way over to the man. He embraced him like a long-lost brother, and tears slowly made creeks on his skin. The man he was holding was laughing from pleasure at seeing his old friend again.

'You're supposed to be dead.' Harry finally spoke up, except his voice was croaked from tears. The man looked over to Harry and let go of Remus, tears came to his own eyes at the sight of his son, the one person that he never thought he would see again, apart from in those stupid newspaper articles that Skeeter wrote. She always did twist the truth.

He walked over to the boy and knelt down in front of him.

'I won't explain how I lived now, that story is for another time, when it isn't Christmas and we are all supposed to be happy, but I will tell you my boy, I will.' James said. He leaned up and took Harry in a huge hug, one that made them both sob. Hermione was crying pretty badly too. Draco was holding onto her as he was trying to take in what his eyes were seeing. James Potter was sitting in the kitchen of No. 12 Grimmauld Place, hugging his son like his life depended on it.

This man was supposed to be killed by Lord Voldemort himself, but somehow he survived, and he's only just come out of hiding now to come see his son. But, then again, he could've tried finding him, he could've gone to his wife's sister's house and looked for him there, and he might not have known about the whereabouts of the house he was now sitting in without Sirius and Dumbledore's help.

Draco took another look at the weeping Hermione and turned his attention back to the scene in front of him.

Moody hadn't been convinced that this was the real James Potter, because of his "supposed" death. They were now asking him all sorts of questions to do with his life. The only problem was, nearly everyone knew the life of James Potter.

'Now here's a question that will certainly catch you out, how did James ask Lily to marry him?' Moody asked. Sirius rolled his eyes at Moody's stupidness. The whole affair was publicised! Moody himself would have read the article! In fact, the whole of the room was groaning at Moody.

'Moody! The damn thing was well publicised! The whole of England knew about their marriage, how it happened and how James asked Lily to marry him!' Remus said with exasperation. They all agreed and Harry thought of a question that only his father would know.

'Do you have an animagus and if you do, what is it?' Harry asked. Sirius and James beamed at the boy and the others gave him appreciative looks; Moody's questions were getting annoying, at least this one would get them somewhere.

'That's easy, of course I'm an animagus and I'm stag. And just to add, I turned into one with Peter and Sirius so we could be with Remus during his transformations.' James explained. Harry raised an eyebrow at Moody.

'That is something only James Potter would know, no one but those four ever knew anything about Remus or them being what they are. Is that enough proof for you?' Harry asked him. Moody narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but slowly nodded his head to say that it was in fact enough proof for him, though, he did doubt it. Harry rolled his eyes at the man. James went up to his son and put his arms around his shoulders.

'That's my son. Did you ever get my old cloak?' James asked. At this, Harry grinned from ear to ear.

'Wait here.' Harry said. He rushed out of the room and James heard a couple of the girls in the room groan, and saw what looked like the youngest red-headed children grinning broadly after Harry. The blonde boy was rather confused though. That was, until Harry came rushing back down the stairs and into the Kitchen again.

They saw the door open and close and Sierra felt a hand on her arm, Hermione felt someone pull her hair, Ron felt someone kick his ass and Draco felt someone ruffle his hair.

Harry walked back over to his father and took the cloak off with a flourish. Hermione and Ron glared at him and Draco stared at him with a raised eyebrow, Sierra was just looking at him and smiling.

'Bastard.' Draco muttered. Harry heard him and started to laugh.

'Well, it looks like you have the cloak after all. Who gave it to you? Last I heard Dumbledore had it.' James said, looking down at his son.

'Dumbledore.' Harry said.

James nodded and looked into space. He then looked around the room at all the people looking at him. He turned back to his son.

'Who are all these people, the kids that don't have red hair look like I might have known their parents, but I don't know about the others.' He asked Harry. Harry laughed.

'The red heads are the Weasley's. That's Fred and George, Ron, Ginny, Percy, Bill, Charlie, Molly and Arthur. The girl with the frizzy brown hair is Hermione, she's muggleborn, you won't know her parents, and the blondes are Draco and Sierra Malfoy, they're cousins.' Harry explained. 'I'm guessing you know the Moody and Tonks.' He added. James nodded and looked the Malfoys over.

'Lucius' son?' He asked. Draco nodded with a sort of defiance.

'I always knew you were a nice guy, Sirius, but Malfoys? I thought you hated that side of your family.' James said. Sirius smiled at him.

'Draco's father is hunting him down because he fell head over heels for Hermione, who, you heard, is a muggleborn. Lucius is intent on getting the boy for what he did to the family name by it, so the Order took Draco and his cousin in. And Sierra is with us because she has a thing with Harry and could be used as an information source against our side.' Sirius told him. James nodded.

'Not that I'd give them any information on you anyway. They wouldn't be able to get it out of me.' Sierra said. Harry smiled gently at her. Sirius just laughed.

'They have their ways, Sierra, they have their ways. You wouldn't stand a chance.' Sirius told her. Sierra just glared defiantly. James turned to Draco.

'Who knew a Malfoy would turn side. Good old Lucius was always going on about the Dark Lord and missions and stuff like that, at the top of his voice too. We all just thought it was for Slytherin show. Obviously we were wrong then. Well done mate.' James praised. Draco gave him a small smiled and nodded his head in thanks.

Most of the Weasleys were still staring at James as if he had grown a pair of bat wings and had started attacking them. Mrs. Weasley came to first.

'Alright, my children, up to bed with you, you've had a big day and you still have a full two to three weeks ahead. You need your rest. Into bed, come on.' Mrs. Weasley shooed. Ron gave a look to Harry and so did Ginny.

'Can Ron and Ginny stay up with us Mrs. Weasley? Please?' Harry asked. Mrs. Weasley looked thoughtful for a second before she gave up.

'Fine, but don't stay up too late you two. I want to be able to get yo up in the morning.' She said, before leaving the room herself. Mr. Weasley followed soon after her, but not before he shook hands with James and said a quick goodnight to Sirius, Remus, Moody and Tonks.

'Are we allowed to stay?' Draco asked. James turned to the boy and smiled.

'Of course you can, all of you can, I'm not about to ship anyone off to bed. I want to know what's been going on for the past, what, I don't know how many years I've been in hiding. I've only been able to scam muggle newspapers to see if there has been anything unusual happening. Unfortunately there hasn't. So, what's been going on?' James asked, sitting on one of the chairs around the Kitchen table and rubbing his hands together. They all sat around him and started to tell tales of what has been happening at Hogwarts, in the Wizarding World and with old friends.

Harry, Ron and Hermione retold stories of what they had been doing for the last five years at Hogwarts and outside it. James was incredibly proud that his son was getting into mischief at school.

'You know, most parents aren't usually happy or proud or anything that their children are getting detentions nearly every week from the nearly every teacher in the school, getting into trouble in the _Forbidden_ Forest, getting into duels in the middle of the night with someone who used to be an incredible foe, facing up against Lord Voldemort, Ron, stop it, and deliberately getting teachers annoyed at them.' Harry had pointed out. James had just laughed.

'I have got to be the proudest parent in the world at the moment just because you pissed off Severus. Though, by what you say, he isn't that hard to annoy. You went up against Voldemort 3 times? Including when you were 1?' James asked in amazement. Harry nodded.

'Yep, it was hard too.' Harry said. 'I had help most of the time though.' Harry nodded at Ron and Hermione. James smiled appreciatively at the two.

'Not many people would have been able to stay with Harry while going through that every year. Thank you for helping and staying with him.' James said. Hermione and Ron nodded.

'It was the least we could do. After Harry saved me from that Troll in first year, I owed him his life.' Hermione said.

'So when did you two come into the picture?' James asked Draco and Sierra.

'At the start of the year. We started talking in the coach. In the end we came to truce.' Draco said.

'Yeah, because you fell for Hermione.' Ron said. Draco glared at him.

'And you fell for Pansy Parkinson, and she's definitely worse.' Draco countered and everyone laughed.

'Are you talking about Gerard Parkinson's daughter?' James asked. Sirius nodded and James laughed even harder.

'I can remember him from school, biggest man-tart you could ever meet. Is his daughter the same?' He asked Draco, who nodded.

'Definitely. She lost her virginity in third year to Blaise Zabini, and hasn't stopped since.' He retold. Ron went bright red at what was in store for him, but was generally pleased on the inside. The others laughed at him.

'So you guys met Sirius in third year, as well as Remus.' James said. Harry nodded.

'Yeah, he bloody nearly ripped my leg off! He broke it at least. Then Dumbledore started patting it when it was in its cast when I was in the Hospital Wing. That really hurt.' Ron said, grabbing his leg and remembering the pain he went through.

'You're not the one that had to go up against those dementors with my memories, are you Ron?' Harry asked. Ron blushed and shook his head.

'It still hurt though.' He muttered.

'I said sorry about the leg, didn't I? I also remember saying that I was after the rat.' Sirius said.

'What did you want a rat for mate?' James asked.

'Don't you know about Pettigrew?' Remus asked. James shook his head in confusion.

'Peter was the one that sold you and Lily out to Voldemort.' Remus said quietly. James looked murderous.

'What?!' He yelled. Sirius and Remus tried calming him down, everyone helped.

'Calm down mate, he's in Azkaban now, I took him in myself. Don't worry about it, the bastards in prison.' Sirius said.

'Don't worry about it, he knows nothing of your survival and he would try and spend more time trying to avoid you than trying to find you again. The rat isn't that dumb. Though, he did side with Voldemort and he thought that we would never find him and punish him for what he did. We tracked him down in Harry's third year and caught him, but we were going to give him to the dementors in exchange for Sirius' life. Unfortunately, it has taken another two years to track him down again.' Remus said.

Calming James down took a bit of work, but they eventually managed to calm him down enough to talk to him without it getting out of control.

'Has there been anything normal about Hogwarts so far, or anything that you could call normal in that place?' He asked, with his head in his hands and his eyes closed. Harry thought for a moment.

'There has been a couple of normal moments, like staying up late in the common room talking, doing homework, classes, that type of thing, but other than that, it's been planning, getting into trouble, fighting Death Eaters and the like. We lead very interesting lives.' Harry concluded. James chuckled softly to himself before looking up at Harry and grasping his shoulders.

'I am so very proud of you. I don't think I have ever been so proud of anyone or anything in my entire life. I want you to remember that, always.' James said to him. Harry felt tears leave his eyes as he heard that. He had never felt so loved in his entire life other than hearing that from his very own father, the one man that he never thought he would ever see again.

'Thank you.' Harry said. 'That's all I ever wanted to hear.'

'I have got to be the proudest parent in the world at the moment just because you pissed off Severus. Though, by what you say, he isn't that hard to annoy. You went up against Voldemort 3 times? Including when you were 1?' James asked in amazement. Harry nodded.

'Every year apart from third; now I'm just waiting for what's to happen this year.' He answered. James winced visibly.

'I won't let anything bad happen to you. I've taken too long to find you again without everyone finding out about me, I promise that I won't let that stupid asshole near you.' James said with determination. Harry smiled up gratefully at his father and thanked him with his eyes. James smiled back and had their first father son moment. Hermione was so tempted to say, 'Awwww' at that moment; but she refrained because she thought it would ruin the moment. Draco took her hand under the table and rubbed it gently, added to the already tender moment.

'Imagine Snivellus' face when he sees you again for the first time in 14 years.' Sirius said, totally ruining the perfect moment. Hermione, Ginny and Sierra rolled their eyes and Draco chuckled at his cousins' lack of tact, Ron just laughed along with Sirius, Harry and James. James started laughing and Harry was already on the floor in laughter from imagining the look on his potion masters face.

'I saw we floo him and give him a heads up.' Harry said once he got up off the floor.

'Nah, I want to see the initial shock on his face, he'll suspect something if we tell him first. That isn't any fun anyway.' Sirius answered. Harry nodded, with an understanding smile.

The spoke for hours longer about how people would take the return of the famous James Potter and more about some of the better stuff that had happened within everywhere within the last 14 years. Some stories were very funny.

Only when Hermione had fallen asleep on Draco's shoulder, did James, Sirius and Remus think it was time for them to go up to bed.

Draco picked his beloved up and took her up to her bed and laid her down before returning to his room and getting ready for bed himself. When he got in there, he found Harry and Ron already asleep on their beds and snoring like chainsaws. He rolled his eyes and jumped into his own bed and fell asleep almost immediately, he was that tired.

I would like to thank my reviewers from the last chapter and all the people who added me to their story list. 

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Thank you guys so much for all your support and keep reviewing! It makes me feel very special. 


	11. Chapter Eleven

A/N: Hey guys, thank you for sticking with this story, I know that I have taken a really, really, really, long time in putting this out. I'll try and write some more now that I am on school holidays. I have about half, maybe less of the next chapter written so its should be out soon. Thank you for your reviews, I love them. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I'm just amazed that no one has sent angry reviews to me saying that I should update quicker. I really though that I would have many of the damn things. Thanks to everyone who loves this story and is reading it. Just so people know, the curse will be introduced in the next few chapters I hope. Any way, it will be out soon. 

Disclaimer: I own nothing! All hail JKR! The real owner of HP!

The Truth Found Out

The next morning, Draco woke up the latest. He looked around to find that both Harry and Ron were downstairs and when he took a quick look in the girls' room, he also found it empty. He went downstairs and found everyone sitting around the table in the Kitchen.

He sat in the unoccupied seat next to Hermione after bidding everyone good morning and thankfully took his breakfast from Mrs. Weasley. He ate quickly and started to get into a few conversations.

He could see Harry and his father in a deep conversation about Quidditch, the Weasley Twins were sitting in a corner and writing what was most likely was another order form. Yes, he had learnt about Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. It wasn't that hard actually. You could hear Mrs. Weasley yelling at them about it all the time. But she now learnt that she wasn't able to stop them, and had half accepted it. Remus, Tonks and Sirius were in what looked like a serious conversation, probably something about the Order by the looks of things, Mr and Mrs Weasley were having their own conversation about something, Hermione, Ginny and Sierra were in a conversation about some things to do with school, and Ron was just eating all the food he could within the small amount of time that he had been given to eat.

After breakfast had been eaten, they all just sat in their little conversations and talked until Sirius stood up.

'I'm sure that there has been one thing on your minds since last nights' big surprise,' He started.

'Oh no.' James muttered, leaning back in his chair and ruffling his hair in nervousness. It was a habit that he had not gotten rid of after school and was certainly not giving it up now.

'So, I would like to ask the question for you, that way it will all be clarified, James, I'm sure everyone gathered here would like to know, well, except for me because I already know, how did you survive Voldemorts attack on your house 14 years ago?' Sirius asked.

James started to get fretful as he saw that everyone at the table was looking at him. He ruffled his hair some more before his eyes landed on Harry. The boy was looking up at his father with complete hopefulness; he wanted to know. James sighed and leaned back in his chair again and tilted his head back. He leaned forward again and rested his head in his hands. He lifted it up after a while and they could see the tears swimming in his eyes.

'That night was the worst in my life. I was hoping to never think about it again, but you all should know. Lily and I were sitting in the living room, playing and talking to Harry, who had just learnt to say his first words,' James rubbed his hand on the back of Harry's head and smiled at his son. 'I had left my wand on the table next to me and Lily's was in our room, she had left it there that morning, we didn't have a care in the world at that moment. It was just us and our son. It was at about midnight when we heard the click of the lock. We might have been carefree at the time, but not completely dumb; our ears were on full alert. I heard it and gave Harry straight to Lily and told her to run upstairs, get him out. I took my wand up from the table and took it outside into the hallway to make sure that Lily was able to get out.

I fought with him for a little while, but I soon found my wand across the other side of the room. I looked at him in horror and started to back away, I knew I was going to die. I reached the wall and put on a brave face, I wasn't going to let the bastard see me cower before him. There was only one thing, he didn't kill me; he knocked me out. He probably just wanted me to suffer without a family. I came to after everyone had left. I started to call for Lily. I found my wand in the corner next to me and I started to make my way up the stairs to find her. I saw what looked like a hand out from under the rubble. I went over and pulled your Grandmother out from under the rubble Harry. It wasn't even your mother that was killed by him. I was completely shocked. This took some time to overcome.' James said.

'Hold on, wait a sec, that means that Lily could still be alive.' Remus said. James nodded.

'I thought that through, I looked for her and everything, but she wasn't in the house. After, I walked around the house to try to find you. I couldn't find you around the house anywhere. I looked all over the place. I was seriously scared. I could hear what sounded like a motorbike in the distance, but it sounded like it was getting further away than coming closer. I got up and walked out of the door, or what remained of it. I found a nearby alley and turned into my animagus before heading for the nearby forest. I stayed there for a couple of days to lie low. After that, I wandered the towns; putting spells on myself to make sure I wasn't noticed and stayed well away from Wizarding communities.

'On the odd occasion that I happened to stroll into one of our towns, the only name on many peoples' lips was yours Harry. Everywhere I went in those towns, all I heard was your name and your disappearance. Apparently some people had seen you around muggle London sometimes, but mostly in the town where I think your Aunt and Uncle and dreadful cousin live. Is that right?' James asked. Harry nodded silently; he wasn't particularly interested in telling his father just yet about how his dreadful relatives treated him just yet.

'I've been wandering through the cities and finding out some information for years. I knew I couldn't try to come into Hogwarts, that would have been a dead give away. And walking into Wizarding London would have been just plain stupid.

'I have tried looking for your mother Harry, I have, but I don't know where she is. I haven't found out anything about her, nothing at all. But I know she's out there somewhere.' James concluded. He had his head in his hands and Harry swore through his blurry eyes, he could see James' own tears slowly making tracks down his face.

Harry took his father into a hug and James hugged him back. Both sat just sat there hugging, and the others slowly made their way out of the room; they knew it was a father/son moment.

The kids went upstairs and sat on the beds, just lying there silently. After about half an hour later, Harry walked in. His eyes were a little bloodshot. They could all tell at once that he had been crying with his father.

Harry went to lie back down on his bed and Sierra cuddled in close to him, holding him tight. Everyone could see the slow tear running down his cheek.

They all just laid in silence as the day went on, but were soon in better spirits and went outside to have snowball fights with the other Weasleys, Sirius, James, Remus and Tonks.

There was a lot of laughing, screaming, running, human shields and snow going everywhere.

'Hermione!' Draco yelled as Hermione ran behind him as a snowball just missed him. Apparently it was meant to hit Hermione.

'Sorry! I had to get away somehow!' She squealed. Another soon followed the first and Draco had to duck to avoid it. Unfortunately, Hermione wasn't that fast and got a mouth full. She stood there, dumbstruck, while Draco was on the ground laughing so hard his sides hurt.

Hermione wiped all the snow off of her face started throwing massive snowballs at him.

Draco was not ready for that little development. The only way he stopped her was by grabbing her arms and pinning them to her sides. Hermione tired to get her arms away, but only succeeded in making herself fall on top of Draco. She started trying to make him eat snow, but he rolled her over and changed their positions.

Draco started trying to get her back, and she helped by screaming at the wrong moment and getting snow all in her mouth. Draco laughed himself stupid at Hermione trying to get it all out of her mouth and when she was done she grabbed his collar and flipped them over again, but Draco was soon to catch up and they made another turn.

Draco got another load of snow on her face and when she was trying to get it off, he brushed what was on her mouth away and kissed it gently. Hermione was shocked for a second, but gained composure again and pulled him closer.

The next thing both knew was them being bombarded with snow all over. It turned out that they had witnessed the exchange and planned the attack themselves.

Draco and Hermione quickly got up and started to attack them back. The fight went on for hours before everyone got tired and headed back inside for something hot to drink and eat.

After eating and drinking their fill, they sat and talked for hours longer.

After about an hour, Draco took Hermione's hand and they slowly made their way out, without anyone noticing, or so they thought. Harry and James had watched the two look at each other and give small, barely noticeable nods, and leave. They smirked at each other knew exactly where they were going.

Draco took Hermione up the stairs and into his room. They both lay down on his bed and had their arms around each other.

They just laid in silence for ages before Hermione spoke up.

'I wonder what it would be like not to know whether your mother was alive or not.' She said. Draco looked deep into her eyes.

'I pity Harry because of that. I wouldn't be able to stand not knowing whether or not my mother was alive. It would kill me inside. My mother is the only nice one to me. I'd want to find her.' Draco said. Hermione nodded.

'That's what I'm scared of Harry doing; going looking for her.' She whispered. Draco held her tighter to him. He leaned his head down lower to her ear and she could feel his warm breath on her neck and it made her shiver.

'How about we forget all of this.' He whispered. Hermione looked at him quizzically.

'How?' She asked. Draco gave her a meaningful look and she quickly understood. She captured his lips in what he took as a yes and clothes were quickly discarded. They had their night.

The next morning, they both woke to each others scent. Hermione was the first to wake and she felt oddly light-headed. But it was a good light-headed. She reminisced about what happened last night. It was the best she had ever felt. She looked over to where Harry and Ron were supposed to be sleeping and didn't see them there.

_Why would they be there? Unless they wanted to see what was happening. They probably stayed in the girls' room or down on the couch._ Hermione thought.

Just then, she heard Draco stir and faced him smiling lightly. He opened his eyes to where his angel slept and saw her. He smiled down at her and he saw her smile back. He captured her lips in a soft kiss, and when he broke it, he could see her blush lightly. Draco smirked slightly at the girl.

'Good morning sweetheart.' He whispered. Hermione looked up at him and smiled again.

'Good morning to you too sunshine.' She whispered back.

'We better get up, but I really don't want to see the others though. But I do need a shower.' He joked.

'We both do. Especially before we go down to breakfast.' She said.

'I also want to stay here with you.' He said, burying his head in her neck and kissing her gently. Hermione groaned lightly and tilted her head back and closing her eyes.

'I want to stay here too.' She whispered.

Just then, they hear a knock at the door.

'Are you two decent?' Harry yelled through the door. Hermione groaned and Draco rolled his eyes.

'You can only come in if you want to see us naked.' Draco called back. There were strangled-like sounds coming from behind the door and Hermione tried to stifle giggles.

'Did you two have to do that last night?' They heard Ron yell. Draco rolled his eyes again and Hermione blushed.

'Yes!' Draco called back out to him. He obviously wasn't as embarrassed about it as she was.

'We'll be out soon! Hold your horses!' Hermione called out to them. They could hear them mumbling something and had to stifle laughter. They got out of bed grudgingly and gathered their clothes before putting them on and leaving the room.

'Finally.' Ron grumbled. Hermione shot him a glare and smiled at Draco before entering her room to get changed and going to have a shower.

Draco got changed and went to have a shower himself. As much as he loved the smell of Hermione, he didn't particularly think that everyone else would.

After they both had a shower, they went down to have a late breakfast. They could see James, Sirius and Remus smirking at them out the corner of their eyes and Sierra was shooting sly smiles at her cousin, who was promptly ignoring everyone apart from Hermione because of the attention that they were attracting. Everything was silent apart from the odd snickers coming from the males at the table.

'Hermione, will you come with me for a second?' Sierra asked, breaking the silence. Hermione looked at the girl curiously, but nodded all the same.

'Sure.' Hermione said cautiously.

'Great.' She said and took Hermione's hand and led her into the room just off the kitchen.

'You do know that everyone could hear you last night.' She stated as soon as they entered the room. Hermione looked at her with wide eyes.

'What?' She whispered fearfully.

'Let's just say that you're going to get a couple of weird stares around here for a while. Just be lucky that Molly and Arthur went home last night pretty soon after you and Draco left the room. They wanted to check on things at their house. And if Draco was that good, tell him to give Harry pointers, just in case that ever happens between us. And get one of adults to put a silencing charm on the door next time. I don't think anyone slept very well last night. Oh, and get ready for Weasley blackmail, Fred and George taped everything. What we could hear anyway. They weren't going to go in and tape it. Just be careful.' Sierra advised. Hermione had completely blanched. She was as white as a ghost.

'Oh. My. God.' Hermione whispered. She was standing stock still and was trying to take in everything that the girl was telling her. 'You truly are a Slytherin.' She added. Sierra giggled.

'Trust me; I'm not as bad as some others I know. Tell me; were you a virgin before last night?' She asked. Hermione shook her head.

'Really? Who?' She asked.

'Victor Krum, last year.' Hermione mumbled.

'Who was better?' Sierra asked.

'Draco.' She mumbled again.

'Really? I wouldn't have guessed.' Sierra said thoughtfully. Hermione was still in a little bit of shock.

'I won't be able to look any of them in the eye for a long time.' She said.

'Draco seems to have gotten over it rather quickly. Trust me he loves you, I just meant that he doesn't seem to mind that heaps of people heard. I think it only matters that he had you, he doesn't really care what the others think.' Sierra added.

'Is Ginny here?' Hermione asked suddenly. Sierra looked thoughtful for a second.

'Yeah, I think she is. Why?' She asked.

'I have to talk to her about something. I hope you don't mind, but I am rather hungry and you pulled me out of breakfast.' Hermione said pointedly.

'Oh, yeah, go have breakfast.' She said. They walked back into the room and Hermione blushed furiously. She sat back down in her seat next to Draco and started to eat her breakfast again.

After finishing her breakfast off quickly, she went to go find Ginny. When she found the young girl, she told her absolutely everything that Ginny wanted to know. It felt good to get it all off of her chest. She had wanted to tell Sierra, but that would have been a bit awkward, talking to her about her cousin in that way, so she turned Ginny; she would get the younger girl to tell Sierra all about it. Maybe.

The girls spent an hour talking, mostly about what happened, but other things made their way into the conversation too. Apparently she liked Blaise Zabini, which Hermione thought was rather incredible. She had laughed a little when Ginny had told her, but soon realised that the girl wasn't joking. Hermione then looked at the girl with shock.

'You're not serious?' She had asked. Ginny had nodded.

'Yep. I'm not lying.' She had said. 'Don't judge me because of this Hermione.' Ginny had added.

'I just lost my virginity to Draco Malfoy; I don't think I'm in any position to judge you for just liking him.' Hermione had replied.

'True.' Ginny had answered. 'Promise you'll keep my secret?'

'Of course.' Hermione had promised.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing, sitting in front of the fire and drinking hot chocolate. They talked and talked for ages before they all got very, very tired. The all went to bed early, desperate to get some sleep for the next day.

The holidays were more like normal holidays after that. Snow ball fights, hot chocolate, sitting by the fire and just plain talking to one another.

There was romance of course. Sierra and Harry could be seen under the remaining mistletoe, Draco and Hermione didn't even bother with mistletoe, Ron was sending constant love letters to Pansy, which where quickly returned with a reply. Hermione saw some of them, they were rather mushy. Even Ginny got up the good old Gryffindor courage to write an anonymous letter to Blaise saying Merry Christmas, and was given a return letter, asking who she was and how she knew where he lived. She had gotten the address from Draco.

Everyone in the house now knew about Ginny's crush on Blaise. Though, it wasn't Hermione who had told them. Ginny herself had accidentally let something slip one night at dinner and everyone had put the pieces together and had stared at her with wide eyes.

Ginny had her hands clamped over her mouth with wide, frightened eyes and had run out of the room in that way. Hermione had followed her and everyone soon came to their senses and gave Ginny the benefit of the doubt. Ron hadn't, but that was just the older brother part of him being overprotective. Hermione and Sierra soon sorted him out, but he still wasn't happy about it. The girls just gave up and ignored the looks he shot her and how he seemed to be constantly depressed, with the only thing that was able to cheer him up were his letters from and to Pansy, but then he would just go into his stupor again.

The ride to Hogwarts after a couple of days of sitting around and talking was none more exciting: though, Blaise did come in looking for Draco. Ginny turned as red as her hair and faced the window. Sierra and Hermione covered their mouths and also looked out of the window so that Blaise wouldn't see their laughter. Soon after Blaise arrived, Pansy flew into the room and into Ron's lap, making him considerably happier since the male Slytherin entered. They were snogging each other senseless within the first few minutes. Draco and Blaise talked animatedly about some things while Draco's arm was constantly around Hermione's waist or shoulders, he refused to let go of her. Actually, he hadn't wanted to let go of her all holidays. Now he wouldn't.

The lunch trolley came around and they all snacked out on all sorts of lollies and treats.

Halfway through eating, Blaise brought up the subject of an anonymous letter that he received a couple of days after Christmas. Hermione, Sierra, Harry and Draco all started choking on what they were eating and Ron pulled himself out of the kiss that him and Pansy had been occupying themselves with and stared at Blaise with hatred. Pansy looked slightly hurt. It looked like Ron was jealous that Blaise had gotten a letter like that.

Ginny, on the other hand, was watching out the window with such determination that Hermione wasn't surprised that it didn't shatter under her gaze. Her face had turned redder than her hair and her freckles were barely visible beneath it.

'Yeah, I don't know who it was from, but I sent them a letter back asking who they were and how they knew where I lived. I didn't get a reply though. It was really strange.' Blaise concluded. Ever since Draco and Hermione and Ron and Pansy had gotten involved, he had resolved differences with the Gryffindors and they now could have considered each other friends.

'Don't you get letters like that all the time?' Draco asked once he had stopped coughing. He was rubbing Hermione's back because she was still choking and coughing on her food.

'Yeah, but the people writing them usually make themselves known, so at least if they are a huge idiot I can try to avoid them. Who knows, this person might actually be nice enough to think about dating, but I wouldn't know because they didn't put down a name.' Blaise reasoned.

'Thank God they didn't.' Ron muttered. Pansy looked at him strangely and Hermione hit him very hard in the arm. He glared at her and rubbed the spot where she had hit.

'What was that for?' He complained.

'For being a complete git.' Hermione responded, snuggling deeper into Draco's embrace. He wrapped both his arms around her and kissed her head softly. Hermione smiled despite herself and hugged him tighter.

Draco looked at Blaise thoughtfully.

'What if I tried to help you look for her?' Draco asked. Ginny whipped her head around to face him with a scared expression, but soon realised what she had done and faced the window again. Blaise looked at her like she was going crazy and turned back to Draco.

'You think you could? That would be great mate. Really helpful.' Blaise replied clapping Draco's shoulder and getting up.

'Well, I must be off to find Crabbe and Goyle. Those two couldn't find their way around the train if they tried.' Blaise bowed and left the compartment.

As soon as Blaise had left, Harry and Sierra burst into hysterical fits of laughter that seemed to be what they had kept in throughout the conversation.

Hermione glared down at them, but Draco stopped her from saying anything by placing a sweet kiss upon her lips. Hermione greedily accepted and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him more passionately. Draco responded and pulled her onto his lap. He moved his arms up and down her back, coming to a rest on the small of her back and gently rubbing the spot with his fingers. Hermione gave a small moan and he slipped his hand under the back of her shirts. It was cold, so she was wearing a few.

'Hey, we heard it; we don't have to witness it too.' They heard Harry say behind them. They turned around and glared at the boy who was smirking at the couple.

'Shut up Harry, we're just lucky that you two haven't started yet; you're worse than us.' Draco snapped at him. Harry and Sierra blushed profusely.

'Hey, no one's as bad as Ron and Pansy though; you have nothing to worry about there.' Ginny said. They all laughed at this and Ron shot them all a glare from behind Pansy. This only caused them to laugh harder.

'He heard it!' Ginny laughed.

The rest of the trip was spent playing games, having visits from Fred and George, Blaise again and even Crabbe and Goyle came in for ever a shorter time.

They arrived at Hogwarts hours later to have a quick dinner before retiring for the night in their warm, comfy beds, for a good nights sleep.

A/N: As I said before, hopefully the next chapter should be out pretty quickly, but don't take my word for it. I'm worthless with deadlines. Just keep an eye out. 


	12. Chapter Twelve

A/N: Aren't I great! That was the quickest chapter update yet! Woohoo! I love everyone who is reviewing. Unfortunately I can't identify anyone yet becasue I haven't checked any of them. Plesae review for this chapter and I will get to updating as quick as I can. I have to say that things are going to move very quickly throughout these next chapters, so try not to get confused, ask if you problems. Now, on with the chapter!

OWLs

Over the next few months, Draco, Harry, Ron, Pansy, Hermione and Sierra tried cramming as much knowledge as they could into their heads for the upcoming OWL exams. They all found the constant strain of homework, studying and cramming a general depression throughout everyone in their year. They also felt the separation from each other rather unbearable. Draco had to drag Hermione out of the library just so they could relax and spend time together. It wasn't that relaxing since Hermione kept fretting worse than ever.

'Hermione! Sweet heart! Calm yourself! You'll do fine! I've never known you not to do anything other than perfect in a test. Just think of it as another normal test, just another one that you've had heaps of time to prepare yourself for, like you've known about this test all year and it's just another one that counts towards your end of year grades. Everything will be okay, don't worry about it. You'll get the best grade out of everyone in our year. Just remember, I love you, I'm not about to lie to you. I've never known anyone as smart as you, ever. Just stay calm.' Draco said to her. He pulled her close to his body to try and stop her fidgeting and wringing her fingers to oblivion.

'It's just, the OWLs are the most important thing that we have to do this year and I don't want to stuff it up. This is my chance to prove that even though I'm muggleborn, I'm just as smart as everyone else.' Hermione said, wrapping her arms around Draco's neck and burying her head in his chest.

'Is that what this is all about?' Draco asked, pulling away from her a little to look into her face. 'Just proving to everyone that a muggleborn is just as smart as a pureblood?' Hermione nodded and buried her head in him again. Draco wrapped his arms around her tighter, and rubbed her back as she sobbed into his shoulder.

'You don't need to prove anything Hermione; absolutely nothing. You are the most intelligent person in our entire year. You ace every test; you've put teachers in their place, for Merlins' sake! You don't need to prove anything to these people that you are as smart as you want them to think. I think that they know that already from being in classes with you for 5 years. Don't worry, it's just another test; and I might add that you are smarter than any pureblood I know; and definitely smarter than any muggleborns and half-bloods. Calm down.' Draco said, rocking her back and forth, rubbing her back and trying to quieten her down.

They were sitting outside in the cold, under a tree and just trying to enjoy the view of a white Hogwarts and surrounding scenery. Hermione was sitting against him for warmth anyway. The comfort about what she was going through was an added bonus. Though, she did need it. She felt horrible about the damn tests that were coming up, and she wasn't the only one. Some of the girls had already been taken to the Hospital Wing for treatment to calm their nerves down. Some of the boys had fainted from not enough sleep, some had fallen asleep in class while the teacher was talking and soon been aroused by other classmates that the lesson was over.

'At least you aren't fainting and falling asleep in class.' Draco joked. Hermione gave a sob wet laugh and cuddled up against him some more. He was warm and she needed to feel his arms around her.

'Are you feeling better now?' Draco asked. Hermione nodded and wiped her eyes on the back of her gloved hand. Draco looked into her eyes and started to wipe them for her himself.

'Do you want to go back to the library, or do you want to go rest in our common room?' He asked. The prefects had their own common room, though it wasn't much used. Most people tended to like their house common room more.

'I think I want to spend some more time in the library before heading into the common room for some rest. Will you come with me?' She asked.

'To the ends of the Earth my darling.' Draco answered. He got up and held out his hand for her to take. She did and he helped her up, not letting go of her hand, and made his way up to the library with her by his side, still wiping tears off her face before entering and starting some more revision.

After completing another three hours of studying, Hermione decided to give up and they both packed up and made their way to the Prefect Common Room.

Once they arrived, Draco took her over to one of the couches right in front of the fire and brought her right in close to him, holding her tight and planting a sweet kiss on the top of her head before resting his on hers. They stared into the fire for about an hour before Hermione looked up and caught his startled eyes.

'What's wrong sweet?' Draco asked her. She smiled lovingly up at him and gave him a soft kiss.

'I love you.' She whispered to him. Draco smiled back down to her and gave her a chaste kiss. His lips lingered just a little above hers.

'I love you too baby.' He answered in a sexy, deep voice. Hermione purred and kissed him again, but with a bit more passion. Draco responded and wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close to him. He lay down on his back and pulled her on top of him. She had her arms wrapped around his neck and brought them back down to rest on his chest, and his hands travelled down to her hips, which he squeezed lightly, making her moan. He smiled into their kiss at the sound, and was about to move his hands further round, when he heard the door open and close behind the couch. He broke the kiss and they both sat back up again to look into the eyes of none other than Harry James Potter.

'Having fun there?' He asked. Hermione and Draco glared forcefully at him.

'We were until you barged in.' Draco snapped at the boy. Harry sniggered at them and drew a piece of parchment out of his pocket and waved it in front of their faces.

'What's that Harry?' Hermione asked, eyeing the paper.

'This is a letter from my father. Do you want to read it, or do you want to continue your snog session?' Harry deadpanned.

'It all depends on what's in the letter. Is it important or interesting?' Draco asked. He had a questioning look on his face and was waiting rather impatiently for Harry's answer. Harry shrugged his shoulders.

'You'd have to read it to find out if it's interesting to you.' Harry was still waving the sheet in front of their faces when Hermione snatched it from out of his grasp and quickly skim read it. She handed it back to him with an eyebrow raised.

'All it has is that he wishes us well on our test and hopes to see us again soon.' Hermione said. 'Definitely not interesting.' She added, passing it back to him.

'Well, it was my first letter from him, so I thought it was interesting.' Harry pouted. Hermione giggled at the look on his face.

'Sorry Harry. You keep the letter and treasure it. But I just don't think that it's that interesting.' Hermione responded. Draco laughed a little at the scene. Harry shot a glare at him and turned back to Hermione.

'Fine then, you two can keep snogging and I'll see you in ten minutes for dinner.' Harry said.

'Sure Harry. See you.' Draco said, waving the boy away and pulling Hermione back to him to make Harry get out quickly.

The boy in question rolled his eyes at the pair and left the room, not wanting to listen to them doing whatever they were going to do.

'That got him to leave.' Draco said to Hermione. Their foreheads were touching and their lips were very close to each other. Hermione groaned a yes and kissed him sweetly. Draco acted on it and pushed her onto her back. Hermione squealed a bit and giggled into the kiss. Draco lifted his head away and smirked at her. She hit him in the arm and pulled him back down on top of her.

He landed on her with an 'Oomph.' Hermione giggled again and licked his lower lip for entry, which was granted hungrily. Hermione wrapped her legs around his torso and hugged him tight to her.

Draco broke the angry kiss and planted searing kisses down from her earlobe straight to her neck along her jaw line. He continued planting kisses down her neck until he reached the edge of her shirt and groaned.

'There is one reason why I don't like winter.' Draco said into her neck as he went back to kissing up it again.

'What is that?' Hermione asked. She had her head turned up so Draco could have more space.

'Too many clothes.' He answered. Hermione laughed lightly as Draco slipped his hands up the back of her shirt and around her waist and up her back. He rubbed her sides and made her groan.

His hands made their way up to the top of her stomach and rubbed his thumbs in circles there. This made Hermione groan more and pull his face up for another hot kiss.

After pulling away, Hermione checked her watch and swore under her breath.

'Was that swearing I heard come from the perfect Miss Hermione Granger?' Draco asked sarcastically. Hermione sent him a playful glare and proceeded to edge her way out from underneath him.

Draco groaned at the lack of contact and stood up with her. He wrapped his arms around her from the back and kissed her neck.

'What's wrong baby?' He asked into her neck.

'Dinner is in 5 minutes. I'd rather not have the embarrassment of walking in late with you and having the minds of our fellow peers and teachers wander to irrelevant parts of their brain to think up why were late to dinner.' Hermione explained, pulling away from him and taking his hand.

Draco groaned and followed her out of the door with his head hanging back and looking at the ceiling and was groaning.

'Do we have to go down to dinner?' Draco asked.

'Yes, because people will question as to my whereabouts, and they might do the same to you too.' She explained and they made their way downstairs to the Great Hall and found their friends waiting outside for them. They entered together and sat at their respective tables.

After eating a hearty meal, they retired to their rooms. They had a great nights' sleep and the last thought Hermione had was _I wish Draco could have stayed with me._

The next week was full of studying, like all the weeks before. It was only once in a blue moon that Draco was now able to take Hermione away from the library and to have a proper snog with her without being interrupted. She was taking the test very seriously now that the OWLs were only a month away. The only time they had together was when Draco got reinforcements, namely, Harry, Ron, Pansy and Sierra, sometimes McGonagall when the time called for it, like when Hermione skipped meals to study more.

Then the big day came and Hermione was a mess. She was constantly fretting over what questions would be on the test and how hard it would be. Not even Draco could calm her down with any of his special treatments. She was too up the wall about it.

He would most of his time trying to calm her down, get her to take deep breaths and he would rub her back for hours and whisper to her encouraging things.

Harry and Ron were starting to get really annoyed with her constant worrying. Ron got so annoyed with her one day that he absolutely cracked.

'Hermione! You are going to do better than all of us put together! Stop your bloody worrying!' He yelled.

'Well sorry Ronald! At least I am taking my education seriously!' Hermione screamed back. This went on for another half and hour until Ginny went to get Draco and he calmed her down.

'Shhh. Calm down baby. Ron just knows how well you're going to do and he wants you to stop worrying so much. Everyone knows that you're going to ace it. Calm down and just relax. Just relax.' He whispered to her. He nodded a thank you to Ginny and brought Hermione over to the couch in the Gryffindor Common Room where he held her and rubbed her back as she cried. Draco glared at Ron and the boy winced noticeably. He came over and sat on Hermione's other side.

'Hermione, I'm sorry for yelling at you, but was just getting a bit sick of you always worrying about your test scores and stuff like that. You don't need to worry. You're going to overtake everyone in our year. You shouldn't be worrying.' Ron said soothingly. Hermione pried herself out of Draco's grasp and wiped the tears from her eyes.

'I'm sorry too Ron. I shouldn't have gone off like that. It's just, this test is putting so much pressure on me and I don't want to fail it and I hate having all of it on my shoulders and having to remember all of it. I'm sorry.' She mumbled, crying into Ron's shoulder. He patted her back awkwardly and shot Draco an apologetic look. Draco just looked highly amused at the scene between his girlfriend and his friend.

Hermione pulled away from him soon after and leant into Draco, who instantly put his arms around her and kissed her neck tenderly.

'You okay now?' He whispered into her neck. Hermione nodded and wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her head into his chest.

After a while, she lifted her head and looked at him curiously.

'How did you get into Gryffindor Common Room?' She asked. Draco turned a light pink and bowed his head a little.

'When you and Ron started fighting Ginny came and got me saying that you were exploding on Ron and that it wasn't pretty. I came as soon as I could and she let me in. She didn't say it that loudly because she was still a little embarrassed at who opened the Slytherin Common Room door for her.' Draco smirked at the younger girl who had started to blush and was glaring at him. Hermione looked up and smiled at the younger girl.

'He opened it, didn't he?' Hermione asked with an amused sound to her voice. Ginny turned her glare to Hermione.

'Yes.' She replied shortly. Hermione just smiled and put her head back on Draco's chest again. Just then she heard the unmistakeable voice of Professor McGonagall coming towards the Common Room. Hermione got up quickly and pulled Draco after her.

Draco gave Hermione a look and the others were giggling and sniggering at them.

'Hermione darling, I really don't think that this is the right time for anything like that.' Draco said. Hermione blushed lightly and kept pulling him up the stairs.

'I'm not pulling you up here for that reason, McGonagall is coming. I don't think that she will take kindly to you being in Gryffindor Tower, do you?' Hermione asked him.

'You know what; I don't think she will either. So, where are you taking me?' He asked her.

'Harry and Ron's dormitory, you won't be able to make it up to the Girls' one. You'll be thrown back down.' She explained.

'How fun.' Draco muttered as he followed up the stairs after her.

'Hurry!' Hermione said.

'I'm coming!' He retorted.

Hermione opened a door to her right and threw Draco inside.

'Sit on one of the beds and wait until I come in and get you.' She instructed. She heard Draco mumble something about her staying with him, but Hermione just smiled sweetly at him and closed the door, sprinting back downstairs.

He butt hit the seat just as McGonagall entered the Tower. She looked around and found Hermione sitting on the couch. She walked over to the harassed looking girl and stood in front of her.

Hermione looked up and smiled brightly at her Head of House.

'Hello Professor. Is everything all right?' She asked.

'I was just coming in to check on you Hermione. You have had me very worried over the past few weeks with your constant studying and missing meals.' McGonagall answered. Hermione smiled up at the older woman.

'Everything is fine Professor. I won't be skipping meals anymore and my friends have convinced me to stop worrying as much.' Hermione answered. McGonagall smiled at the girl.

'That's great Miss Granger. I expect to see you at dinner. Have a great day.' McGonagall told her before leaving the Common Room with a sweep of her robes.

As soon as she had gone from the room, Hermione slumped back onto the couch and gave a loud sigh.

'Thank Merlin that's over. I better go get Draco.' Hermione said and raced back up the boys' dormitory stairs to the 5th year boys' room.

When she opened the door, she saw Draco lying on Harry's bed with his eyes closed. Hermione smiled to herself and walked up next to him as quietly as she could.

She reached out and rubbed Draco's chest before lowering her mouth to his and kissing him sweetly. She felt Draco pull her on top of him and wrapped his arms tightly around her. Hermione squealed at him and feel very ungracefully on top of him.

Draco pulled out of the kiss and laughed at her.

'You never were all that graceful when it came to this stuff were you?' He asked with a cheeky smile on his face. Hermione hit him on the arm and got up. Draco groaned and followed suit.

'Why are we getting up again?' He asked, following her to the door.

'Because I think that most of the people downstairs that saw me come up here will wonder why and get the wrong idea if I am up here too long.' Hermione said. She tried to open the door but Draco gently closed it and had her pressed up against it.

'I thought you didn't give a damn what other people thought.' He whispered huskily to her. Hermione closed her eyes as she felt his warm breath on her cheek and breathed deeply when she felt his hands travel up her sides and landed just under her armpits. She groaned deeply when he started trailing searing kisses down from her jaw to the V of her shirt and back up the other side.

Hermione turned her head to look at him and he captured her lips in a hot, demanding kiss. She wrapped her arms quickly around his neck and tried to pull him even closer to her.

She lifted her leg to let her foot rest on the door. Draco ran one of his hands down to her thigh and up under her skirt to just under her butt.

Hermione gasped a little, and tangled her hands in his hair even more.

Draco broke the kiss and started kissing her neck again. Hermione groaned and pushed him off a little.

'We should get down, they will already think that something happened.' Hermione whispered.

'And something did.' Draco answered.

'Yes, but I really think we should.' She said.

'Fine, but you owe me.' He retorted. Hermione smirked at him and straightened her skirt and ran her fingers through her hair a little to make it even a little presentable. Draco just grabbed her around the waist, opened the door and pushed her gently out of it.

'You look perfect.' He whispered in her ear. Hermione blushed lightly and walked down the stairs with a little jump in her step.

When they arrived down in the Common Room, their friends all looked at them and sniggered.

'That was a quickie.' Ron teased. Hermione went bright red and Draco hit over the back of the head as he walked past.

'I better get going; I don't particularly want to have my head as a trophy on McGonagall's wall.' Draco said, rubbing his neck. They all nodded their agreements and Draco bent down to give Hermione a goodbye kiss before leaving. It wasn't like the one in the dormitory. This one was soft, sweet, and delicate. Hermione smiled as he broke away slowly.

'See you gorgeous.' He whispered.

'See you too.' She whispered back. He gave her his so-called award-winning smile and left the Common Room, leaving a vert happy Hermione in his wake.

'There is only one thing I want to say. Our room better not be in a mess.' Ron said. Hermione grabbed a pillow from the couch she was sitting on and hit him in the head with it while the others laughed loudly at his comment.

The day was finally upon them. The OWLs were scheduled for today and everyone was in hysterics trying to remember all of their stuff.

The Charms test was first, theory, and Professor Flitwick and the OWL administrator, who was to be in all their theory tests, were looking over them as they did it.

You could see the teens sweating and trying to remember what they had to.

You could also see Hermione's hand whizzing across the paper, answering all the questions correctly and finishing the test very quickly.

Draco kept looking up and over to where Hermione sat and smiling to himself.

The test was finally over and Draco met Hermione and the others outside in the Entrance Hall (the test was in the Great Hall), and went to go get ready for lunch.

After lunch would be the Charms practical and then dinner. They had at least three to four days of exams and a lot of studying to do in between.

The Charms practical went well enough. Only Ron stuffed up one of the charms he was taught by saying it a little wrong and ended up blowing something up and singeing both his eyebrows and the eyebrows of his examiner. They were immediately put right, and Ron apologized to the examiner and was rather surprised to see him laughing.

'My boy, I have been through a lot worse as an examiner. This was very funny.' He said, chuckling. Ron frowned at the laughing man and finished his exam quickly.

'That one was at least enjoyable.' Hermione said after completing the test and waiting outside for everyone else.

'Speak for yourself. That was horrible! I burnt my eyebrows for Merlins' sake!' Ron exclaimed. They all laughed at his misfortune and Draco draped his arm around Hermione's waist and kissed the side of her head.

Hermione smiled up at him and kissed him gently on the lips before turning back to her friends and joining in the conversation.

The next few days were tough on everyone. It was the last of their tests and History of Magic was the last one left, then they had the rest of the year off classes and just lounging around in their Common Room and around the school.

The test wasn't that hard. Most found it rather easy and only got stuck in some parts. They left the Great Hall feeling like a great weight had been lifted off of their shoulders. They sat in the sun under the beech tree by the lake and just relaxed, talked and felt relieved that it was over.


	13. Chapter Thirteen

A/N: Hey guys! Yes, it is the next chapter in the story! I love everyone who has reviewed and added my to Arthur Alerts and Story Alerts and whatever. It makes me feel so happy that people actually like my story! I love you all. 

There is something else I have to mention too. On my last chapter, or the one before or something, it was talking about when Ginny and Hermione were takling about Ginny and Blaise and Hermione's comment about her not being able to say much because of her and Draco, well, thankyou to everyone who picked up the mistake I made, Hermione lost herself to Krum, who I happen to dislike, NOT Draco. Keep that in mind if you reread this story. I tried changing it, but I don't know if it worked or not. So, just to let you know, I did try! 

Disclaimer: I don't own the story or the characters, anyone or anything you recognise from the books belongs to JK Rowling.

The Ride Home

The end of term came up upon everyone very fast. Before they knew it, the whole of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry were sitting at their house tables and talking excitedly about what was to happen over the school holidays.

Suddenly, after everyone had eaten their fill at the feast, Dumbledore had stood up and ordered silence. Everyone quietened down at once and waited for Dumbledore to announce this year's winner of the House Cup.

The Headmaster smiled at everyone and took in their happy, smiling faces.

'Another year has passed us by yet again! With good times and bad under our belts, we head back home to our loved ones and family, friends and people who are dear to us. Let us have the most wonderful holidays we have had yet!

'But now; I have the results of the House Cup! In 4th place, Hufflepuff, with 290 points.' Dumbledore called through the hall. Everyone gave a polite applause for the constantly losing house. Even the Slytherins decided to be polite and give them a little applause.

'3rd place, Ravenclaw, with 320 points.' Again, polite applause sounded throughout the hall.

'In 2nd place, Slytherin, with 400 points.' Dumbledore cried and everyone in Gryffindor held their breath, ready to explode as soon as they were called out.

'And, our winners of this years House Cup, Gryffindor House, with 412 points!' Dumbledore yelled and the whole of Gryffindor house exploded with noise. Everyone, even the Slytherins, were polite and clapped for their victors.

Hermione caught Draco's eye and smiled at him evilly. Draco glared playfully back at his beautiful girlfriend and stuck his tongue out at her to show her he was joking. Hermione stuck her tongue back out at him and started giggling manically. Draco just smiled and shook his head at her. Hermione turned back around to celebrate with her friends.

Later, on the train back to London, Pansy and Ron were snogging each other senseless, Harry and Sierra were in a deep discussion about something and Hermione was about to fall asleep on Draco. She had her eyes closed and was leaning against his chest with his arm around her waist protectively.

After an hour of relative silence, someone opened the compartment door slowly and peeked their head through. The perpetrator that decided to interrupt the silence was Blaise.

'Have any of you seen Ginny? I want to talk to her.' He asked quietly after taking in the scene in the compartment. Draco shook his head and held a finger to his lips and pointed to Ron and Pansy. Blaise blanched slightly and nodded. He slowly closed the door and took off down the corridor outside.

Draco laughed lightly at him and he felt Hermione stir. He instinctively held her tighter against him and kissed the top of her head. Hermione snuggled deeper into him and he wrapped his other arm around her and fell asleep himself, with his head resting against hers.

Half way through the ride, they got rudely interrupted of their quiet sleep by the sound of a bark of laughter coming out from the corridor outside the compartment door.

Draco groaned and rubbed his eyes. _Why did Sirius have to annoy me now? I am so tired!_ Draco thought spitefully.

He felt Hermione stir beside him again and she sat up and rubbed her own eyes.

'What the hell was that?' She asked, leaning against Draco again and rubbing her head into his shoulder.

'Sirius has decided to walk down our corridor.' He answered, wrapping his arms around the tired girl as he had just before he had fallen asleep.

'Bastard.' He heard her mutter. Draco laughed.

'True.' He agreed. _She's so cute when she's tired. I love her so much._ He thought, looking down at her.

Just as he finished that thought, Lupin and Sirius walked through the compartment door in absolute hysterics.

'Why are you here? We were almost all asleep.' Draco asked. Sirius just shot him a wicked look and sat down opposite them, shooting weird looks at Ron and Pansy and Lupin sat next to him.

'What are you still doing at Hogwarts anyway? Aren't you supposed to be staying at home and making sure that a certain person doesn't completely spazz out with boredom?' Harry asked. Sirius shrugged.

'Nah, he told me to come back so that nothing looked too suspicious. And Dumbledore said that it was a good idea because ever since I came the students were taking a very good approach to school, considering I travelled around the different classes and caused havoc. It turns out that I'm a huge hit.' Sirius said looking very pleased with himself.

Harry rolled his eyes and sat back against the seat. Sierra cuddled close to him and closed her eyes.

'Sierra, you aren't going to be able to get any sleep with the King of Havoc here, you do know that?' Draco asked. Sierra didn't even look up or open her eyes.

'I shall try.' She replied. It was now Draco's turn to roll his eyes.

'But you shall fail!' Sirius answered excitedly. Everyone now rolled their eyes at the eccentric man. Blaise entered soon after, talking with Ginny enthusiastically about something to do with this seasons Quidditch World Cup and about who would win. Pansy and Ron had pulled apart for some air at exactly the wrong time and Ron sent a scornful glare at Blaise, thankfully he hadn't noticed, his conversation was too interesting.

Hermione found her jumper on the ground from when she had taken it off, and threw it at Ron's head. It was a perfect shot. Draco, Harry, Sierra, Sirius and Remus all laughed at Ron's red-faced humiliation and Hermione smirked at him.

'What was that for?' He asked.

'For being an insufferable prat. Leave them alone.' She instructed. Ron just shot her another glare and got himself tangled in Pansy again.

'What was that about?' Ginny asked the room at large, but Hermione only shrugged, with the rest following suit. Ginny shot them all suspicious glances and Ron a glare before returning to her conversation with Blaise.

'So, what's everyone planning for the summer holidays?' Remus asked. Draco and Hermione looked thoughtful.

'What about going to the pool in London? It's supposed to be really hot this summer, just like the last one, except not as bad. And Harry, I just remembered, you don't have to go back to the Dursley's! With J-ah, _him_ at home, you don't have to go back!' Hermione announced excitedly. Harry suddenly snapped alert at that.

'Hey, that's true! Ha! No more Dursley's! That damn protection charm or whatever didn't work anyway. I still got hurt.' Harry admonished. Hermione rolled her eyes.

'But you weren't attacked by Voldemort were you?' She asked.

'True, I wasn't.' He agreed.

'That was all it was supposed to do, you know, keep out Voldemort.' She told him.

'I knew that. But I was just making a point that it didn't stop the Dursley's from hurting me.' Harry said. Hermione looked thoughtful.

'Yeah, they should have done something about that. I mean, shouldn't Dumbledore have known that Lily and Petunia hated each other and that Petunia wouldn't have been very happy about looking after her son?' Hermione thought aloud.

'That was where I was supposed to come in, but, after being thrown in Azkaban, that became rather impossible.' Sirius put in.

'You were supposed to take Harry in?' Hermione asked.

'Yep, part of being his godfather. But I went after Pettigrew instead, so that landed me in a loony cell in prison. You really can't call that a fair trade.' Sirius said.

'You mean that you chose to go after something that would inevitably land you in jail, instead of taking me in?' Harry asked. He looked very annoyed. Sirius looked rather guilty.

'Look, I was young, I thought more about going after my best friends murderer because then it was natural instinct, he had been around longer than you had and I was very, very angry. So, I acted without thinking.' Sirius said apologetically. Harry glared at the man for a few minutes before smiling at him.

'I probably would have done the same thing. My friends mean the world to me and I would want the stupid man who killed them dead and buried, or at least in a cell in Azkaban.' Harry said. Sirius smiled brightly at the boy and gave him a nugie. Harry started laughing like crazy and tried to get Sirius off of him.

'Get off!' Harry yelled.

'Nope, nothing doing!' Sirius yelled back. Everyone was laughing at the pair as Sirius tackled Harry to the ground and tried wrestling with him.

Of course, Sirius, being the 35 year old man, was winning by a long shot.

Harry was finally able to get out from underneath him and he scrambled back up onto the seat, exhausted and laughing his head off.

'Ha. I've never done that before. The only exercise I usually get is running away from Dudley and Quidditch. That was fun!' Harry said, sitting back against the seat and breathing deeply. Sirius also sat back up his seat and laughed exhaustedly.

'I used to wrestle all around the dorm room with James. He'd usually beat me though, because of his bloody Quidditch trained body. He was incredibly strong. We'd both usually end up puffing like mad afterwards. It was the best.' Sirius finished. Everyone was laughing along with them; even Ron and Pansy had surfaced to watch the wrestling match taking place between godfather and godson. Most of them were laughing for ages afterwards, talking about all sorts of stuff, though, of course, much to most of the girls dislike, the conversation ended on Quidditch; the training, the game, practice and such.

'So, where do you think you'll be first Hermione? Are you going home to your parents for a while, or staying with us the entire time?' Remus asked. Hermione bit her bottom lip in thought.

'Mum and dad are really keen on seeing me again. I might spend a week there before coming back into London. We live on the outskirts. Just to the North of the main city. It's quieter out there, and it doesn't have the inner-city hustle and bustle that other places have.' She explained. Draco looked a little downcast that she wouldn't immediately be coming to Grimmauld Place, but soon perked up at her next question.

'Draco, do you want to come and stay at my house? I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind and your father doesn't know where I live, none of the Death Eaters do, so it would be safe. Then you could come back into London with me after a week.' Hermione suggested. Draco looked hopefully at Sirius. The man rolled his eyes and stared at him in defeat.

'Who am I to break up you two? Of course you can go. You better send a letter now Hermione, they might not get it later.' Sirius advised.

Hermione quickly wrote a letter and used Hedwig to send it. A reply came soon after the letter was sent that she was able to bring Draco along, even at such short notice.

'Yes! You can come!' Hermione squealed. She hugged him tightly and sent a thank you reply to her parents.

They kept up talk through the ride and once they neared the station, Pansy and Ron pulled apart.

'I want to see you this holidays Ronnie.' She wined.

'Awww, Ronnie, you can't deprive the girl of two months without you now, can you?' Fred and George asked. They had met the twins when they had come onto the station and waited for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to come and find them.

Ron glared at the twins' horrible joke and turned back to Pansy.

'Of course I'll see you over the holidays. I'll try whatever I can to do so.' Ron promised. Pansy smiled brightly at him, kissed him once more and disappeared into the crowd. Ron smiled blissfully after her and turned back to the twins' with a scowl.

'Must you two do that? I love her; can't you lay off me for ten minutes?' He asked. The twins looked at each other and smiled evilly back at their little brother.

'Nope.' They answered in unison. Ron scowled even more at them as they ran off, looking back every so often to laugh at him.

Meanwhile, Hermione and Draco walked off the train and out of the barrier to await Mr. and Mrs. Weasley out there. Sirius, Harry, Sierra and Ginny had followed them.

Draco and Hermione were just standing around talking when Hermione spotted something over Draco's shoulder. Something that wasn't good in the slightest.

A/N: Thankyou to everyone who has sent something to me, like AA, SA, FS, FA stuff. 

Yami No Rei

luckystar125

audrhole

carcar3

Raina Darlig

DRACOANDHERMIONELOVER

Lya Darkfury

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MilkMustache

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AR802

Now it is the time to press the button that says 'Go'. Thank you! (Author puts on happy face.)


	14. Chapter Fourteen

A/N: OMG! Another quick chapter! I am going really good these holidays. Too bad they are over soon. Unfortunately you may have to wait a while for the next chapter, I have to think of a plot for it. If you have any ideas for what I should do to our amazing couple, or any other ideas of sorts, please tell me in a review and I may be able to wrangle it into the story. Thank you so much for all over your support! I love you all so much! Now, on with the story!

Disclaimer: I own nothing! I'm too poor to own anything!

Getting Out

Hermione's eyes widened and grabbed Draco's hand. They made their way over to where Sirius and Remus were standing with Harry, Sierra and Ginny.

'Hermione, what's going on?' Draco asked, flabbergasted at the look he had just seen on her face and how fast she was trying to run through the people.

'I just saw someone that we really don't want to meet at the moment,' was all she said. Hermione peeked her head back up again and saw the man walking rather quickly after them.

'Shit!' She whispered. She began to drag Draco even faster.

'Hold on! Will you explain? Who did you see?' Draco asked, trying to look over his shoulder as he ran to keep up with Hermione. He couldn't see anyone.

'Just keep going. We need to get out of here.' She said.

They reached the others quickly and Hermione tapped Sirius on the shoulder.

'We have a blonde problem.' She announced. Sirius looked strangely at Hermione pointed behind her. Sirius found what he was supposed to be looking at and blanched. Everyone looked behind them too and they all had basically the same reaction.

'Remus, stay here and find Ron, make a portkey when he's here and get out quickly. I'll take these two and their baggage back to the house. He wants them more than you guys.' Sirius said, turning back to the werewolf. Remus nodded and continued looking at Lucius Malfoy, who was continually getting closer.

'Go!' Remus said, ushering them out of the way and back into the crowd.

Sirius took Hermione and Draco around the corner with their baggage which they had grabbed from Remus and they would have quickly apparated away if it weren't for Hermione's parents suddenly finding them.

'Oh no.' Hermione whispered. She quickly dashed out from around the corner and grabbed them, quickly dragging them back around the corner.

'Mum, Dad. How are you?' Hermione asked after getting them around the corner.

'We're fine darling, how are you? You seem all tense, what's wrong?' Her mother asked. Hermione looked over her parents shoulder and saw Lucius talking to Remus about the whereabouts of her and Draco.

Hermione shot a look at Sirius and the man dodged around Hermione, Draco and Hermione's parents.

'Well, I best be off. Draco, behave yourself. If you're anything like me,' Sirius started.

'Then I wouldn't be inviting him to meet my parents. Go Sirius!' Hermione urged. Sirius glared at her and walked off to help Remus get rid of the troublesome Malfoy Sr.

'How was your year darling?' Mrs. Granger asked.

'It was fine mum. Look, can we get going, I really want to show Draco around the house and where he's going to sleep and everything. Please?' Hermione pleaded.

'Hold on Hermione, we haven't even talked to him yet. You must be Draco. Nice to meet you, John Granger.' Hermione's father addressed Draco.

Draco shook the mans' hand and constantly checked what his father was doing.

'Nice to meet you too, Mr. Granger.' Draco answered.

'You seem distracted boy, what's wrong?' Hermione's father asked. Draco shook his head.

'Nothing sir; I'm just excited to meet Hermione's parents.' He said. Mr. and Mrs. Granger smiled at him as Hermione leaned forward.

'Nice save.' She whispered.

'Thanks.' He whispered back. Draco looked back over to his father and Lucius made eye-contact. Draco blanched further than one would think humanly possible and started to shuffle backwards.

'Draco, what's wrong?' Hermione asked. Draco just shook his head.

'He's found us.' He muttered. Hermione looked over to where his eyes were looking and went as white as him.

'What's wrong darling, you look like you've seen a ghost.' Mr. Granger joked.

'You must be Miss Granger's parents, Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father.' Malfoy Sr. said from behind them. Draco subtly moved in front of Hermione as her parents turned around to meet the offending man.

'We're John and Mary Granger. So, you're Draco's father. Nice looking boy you've got here, or should I say man.' Mr. Granger said. Lucius tried looking polite and smiling, but it didn't come out very well.

'What are you doing here father? I was under the impression that you weren't coming. I thought I told you that I was staying at Hermione's for a week before going to live with Sirius.' Draco said, standing tall and looking strong so Hermione's parents wouldn't know the difference.

'I couldn't stay away from my only son after he just came back from Boarding School now, could I?' Lucius asked. Hermione shot him a poisonous glare and stood beside Draco.

'Didn't you get the letter _sir_? I told you that you didn't need to come to pick him up. He was staying with me. Now, we really must be going, we have a fare way to travel. Come mother, father.' Hermione said, preparing to shuffle them away.

She caught Sirius eye and sent him a warning look. He only just seemed to notice Lucius Malfoy standing and talking to her parents. He rushed over with Remus, Harry, Sierra, Ron and Ginny.

'Lucius! I haven't seen you ages, how are you cousin?' Sirius asked, reaching them and holding out his hand to the man. Sirius gave Hermione a look that clearly said, _get going_.

'Hermione, are these people your friends?' Her mother asked. Hermione groaned inaudibly and nodded her head.

'Don't look too excited to see us Hermione.' Harry joked. Hermione mock glared at him and shot a look at Mr. Malfoy. He was currently trying to be worked into a conversation with Sirius so the Grangers could leave.

'Yes mother, these are my friends Harry, Sierra, Ron, Professor Lupin; he teaches Defence Against the Dark Arts, and Sirius, he's Harry's godfather.' Hermione retold.

'How lovely! I'm Mrs. Granger. You can call me Mary.' She answered.

'Mum, I really think that we should get home, I mean, it could be really late by the time we get there, and we still need to have dinner.' Hermione said.

'True. Let's go. Good bye everyone!' She called. They all nodded and Hermione and Draco made a quick escape through the crowd before Lucius could tell which way they went.

The two teens got to the car in record time and waited impatiently for her parents.

When they got there, they looked strangely and disappointedly at their daughter.

'Hermione, it wasn't very nice to run off like that with barely a goodbye to your friends. What's gotten into you?' Mr. Granger asked.

Hermione shot a worried look at Draco. He nodded at her.

'We just have to get out of here quickly. I'm sorry, but I don't think it would be the right thing to tell you.' Hermione said, trying to make her parents understand with her eyes.

'Tell them Hermione.' Draco said. Hermione shot a curious look at him.

'What? Why?' She asked in return.

'Tell them, they deserve to know what their daughter has put herself into.' Draco explained. Hermione nodded, looking pained.

'I'll tell you when we get home. It isn't safe here. Lucius could have followed us.' Hermione said to her parents. They exchanged looks with each other.

'Please, just take us home. I can't explain here. Please.' Hermione pleaded. Her parents nodded and got into the car. Hermione opened the door for Draco and they both climbed in. Hermione put her head into her hands and shook it. Draco rested his hand on her shoulder and tried talking to her.

'Hey, we're out of there now, and dad doesn't know where you live, and he couldn't get it out of the others if he tried. Don't worry, he can't find us. In a week we'll be in Sirius' house and he couldn't get in there even if he knew where it was. Calm down.' Draco tried. It was no use, Hermione was already in tears. She flung herself into Draco's arms and cried her eyes out. Draco wrapped his arms around her and rested his head on hers.

In the rear-view mirror, Hermione's parents cast each other worried looks and Mr. Granger worked on getting home sooner so that he could get to the bottom of this problem.

When they reached the two story house, Hermione and Draco dragged their trunks into the house and sat down on the couch.

Hermione put her head on Draco's shoulder and silent tears continued to stream down her face. Draco had one of his arms around her shoulders and was rubbing it lovingly.

Hermione's parents sat down on the chairs on either side of the couch and looked at the pair expectantly.

Hermione drew a breath and began the tale.

'Draco and I got together at about the start of the year, just before the first Hogsmeade trip. Unfortunately, one of the journalists that had been kicked out of Hogwarts during the Triwizard Tournament in 4th year because of me, decided to get pay back. She wrote a letter to Draco's father explaining that he was going out with a Mudblood.' She began, but Draco cut in.

'Don't call yourself that.' He said. Hermione turned to face him.

'I'm a mudblood and proud of it.' She answered. Draco just grimaced and looked back down at his fingers resting in his laps.

'Anyway, to say that Draco's father was upset was the understatement of the century. He burst into Sirius' house and blasted Draco's name and face off the wall in the family tree room.

'Sirius overheard Lucius talking to Bellatrix, and he said that the next time he ever saw Draco, he was as good as dead. Painfully dead, by the way. Sirius sent a letter to Draco explaining all over this while we were in Hogsmeade. Harry read the letter and found out that Rita Skeeter was the one to send the letter to Lucius, that's the journalist by the way. We left soon after that so she couldn't give Lucius any more updates, but he's still after mine and Draco's head. Oh, and by the way, Draco's father is a Death Eater.' Hermione concluded.

Hermione's parents' faces were of utter shock. Her father was the one to come out of it first.

'Well, darling, do you think it's best to keep going if your name is on a hit-list?' Her father asked. Draco seemed to look pained, but Hermione just dismissed the idea.

'I've been on a hit-list since I became Harry Potter's friend. Being with Draco only increases the amount of trouble I'm in, it doesn't eliminate it. And I'll still have that amount even if Draco and I stop seeing each other.' Hermione explained. Hermione's mother finally came around.

'So, the man we were just talking to, wants your heads?' She asked. Hermione and Draco nodded.

'Probably served to him on silver platers to be made into wall ornaments.' Draco added spitefully.

Hermione's parents blanched considerably and faced their daughter with concerned eyes.

'Aren't you scared darling?' Her mother asked concernedly. Hermione shook her head thoughtfully.

'Not really, I've grown used to the fact that I'm wanted by the Death Eaters as a trophy or possible hostage against Harry. I really don't think that it will make much of a difference.' Hermione said, smiling weakly at her parents. Her parents smiled slightly back at her and her mother came over and knelt before them. She took Hermione and Draco's hands in her own.

'I want you two to be safe. If there is anything that I can do, just let me know.' She said, smiling up at them. Hermione and Draco nodded their heads.

'Count me in on that as well.' Mr. Granger added. Hermione got up and hugged both of her parents, giving her father an extra big one, because she knew how hard it must be for him to know that his little girl was on a wanted list for some very cruel people.

'Hermione dear, do any of the Death Eaters know where you live, or do they have a resource where they could possibly get our address from?' Her mother asked nervously. Hermione shared a thoughtful look with Draco. She shook her head as she answered her mothers' question.

'I really don't think anyone other than my friends in the Order know where I live and even most of them don't know. Harry and Ron don't, so that eliminates the Weasley's, Sirius, James, the others, I don't think anyone other than Draco, now, knows where I live. Dumbledore would, he knows everything. You can't hide anything from that man; other than that, no one.' She answered. Draco looked at her confusedly.

'Harry and Ron haven't been over here yet? You've been to their houses.' Draco said. Hermione smiled at him.

'I've been to the Burrow. I haven't been to Harry's Aunt and Uncle's house, though I don't think that I'd be very welcome. Other than that, I've only been to Sirius' house.' She finished. Draco looked at her thoughtfully.

'I thought you'd been to all of their houses.' Draco mused. He shrugged his shoulders and leaned back comfortably on the couch. Hermione sat back up.

'Why don't I show you to your room? It's only up the stairs.' She asked. Draco nodded and grabbed his trunk from beside the couch. Hermione grabbed hers too and they made their way up the stairs and Hermione started showing him around.

'This is your room.' Hermione said, opening a door to her right and walking inside. 'This is the guest room normally, and, as you're the guest, you get the room. Through that door is my room. Just so you know. I'll knock and come through that door if the need permits it. Don't worry, mum and dad will knock too if they have to come in.

'I do have two older sisters too, they are coming home tomorrow from some dancing camp that they are at. They sleep in the room just next to mine, so you don't really have to worry about them. Um, through there is the bathroom, toilet, shower, sink, everything. I'm not sure what else there is to tell you.' Hermione finished, shrugging. Draco nodded and put his trunk down on the end of the bed and sat down.

Hermione came over and sat with him and leaned against his shoulder. Draco wrapped his arms securely around her protectively.

'Why did our lives have to be so screwed up?' She asked. Draco chuckled softly and Hermione could feel it rumbling inside him.

'I don't know baby. I really don't know.' Draco answered.

A/N: Thank you to all people that are reviewing and I just want you to encourage you all to keep reviewing. I will reply if I deem it neccessary. Please give me ideas to and they may end up in my story. Thank you to all the normal people that leave reviews, but these are the more recent people that have reveiwed for me

Mrs-Malfoy-444

ItrustSeverusSnape

Pitiful, I need more! Sorry, now I'm being greedy. My apologies to everyone. I still love you! Please review!


	15. Chapter Fifteen

A/N: I am so happy with myself. I got three chapters out this holidays. A new record to go in my rather small file! I need more records. Hmm, that's something to think about. Anyhoo! That's just me thinking, ignore it. Here it is! Chapter 15! 

Evil Sisters

Draco woke up in a good mood the next morning (at about 10). He and Hermione had stayed up nearly all night talking and snogging. Mostly snogging though. They didn't even try going further with her parents in the house though. Hermione had headed back to her bedroom at around 3 in the morning and he had fallen to sleep.

He got up out of bed and went to the bathroom that Hermione said was through one of the doors in his room. He took a quick shower and cleaned himself up before going back out into his room, only to find Hermione sitting on his bed.

_Thank God I have my towel on, or this would have been really awkward._ Draco thought.

He went up to the girl sitting on his bed and wrapped his arms around the fidgeting girl.

'What's wrong baby?' He asked, kissing her neck lightly.

'My sisters are getting home any time now and I haven't seen them in ages, considering that I usually spend all of my time at Grimmauld Place, and I haven't even sent letters to them, or anything! I don't know what they are going to think of me.' Hermione whispered, wringing her hands. Draco took her hands in his and held them so that they would stop fidgeting.

'Stop worrying. I'm sure your sisters will understand the situation. Families all should understand each others problems. It will be fine. Now, if you don't mind, I sort of have to get dressed. Not that I'm trying to shove you out or anything!' He declared quickly, 'but your parents might not like to know that you were in the same room as me when I was getting changed from wearing a towel.' Draco said, with an eyebrow raised.

Hermione suddenly realised that he was only in a towel and put her hand over her mouth.

'Shoot! I'm sorry Draco! I didn't even notice. I'll go. Bye.' Hermione said. She stood up and went up to him. She gave him a quick kiss, but Draco held onto her arms and didn't let go.

Hermione moaned into his mouth and wrapped her arms around him.

Draco soon let go of her and smirked that famous smirk of his, except this one was cheeky, not cold. Hermione gave him a soft glare.

'My sisters will be home soon, I suggest you get dressed, big shot.' She said. Draco just gave her another kiss and turned her around.

'You need to leave first.' He teased. Hermione rolled her eyes.

_It's not like I haven't seen him in all his glory before._ She thought to herself, smirking.

She went back into her room to get dressed into something appropriate other than pyjamas. After getting dressed, she knocked on Draco's door again.

'Are you ready?' She called through the door.

'Come in!' She heard. His cry was muffled through the door, but she still understood it.

As she entered, she saw him just chuck a shirt over his shirt and turn around.

'There you are.' He said. He walked over and enveloped her into his arms and kissed the top of her head.

'Are you ready to face the devils assistants?' He asked jokingly. Hermione smiled and punched his arm playfully. Draco laughed and they walked out of his room together with Draco's arm around her shoulders and with her hand in his one that was around her.

They walked down the stairs together and sat down at the table for breakfast.

'Hello Mr. and Mrs. Granger.' Draco greeted.

'Hi mum and dad.' Hermione said, kissing each of them on the cheek and sitting down beside Draco.

'Hello. How are you two? Is everything all right?' Mrs. Granger asked worriedly. Hermione rolled her eyes at her mother.

'Everything is fine mum. There is nothing to worry about.' She assured her. Hermione could have sworn that she heard her father's deep chuckle from out behind the mornings' newspaper. She shook her head and turned back to her breakfast.

'Hey mum?' She asked. Not looking up from her breakfast.

'Hey yeah?' Her mother asked, also not looking up.

'When are Haylee and Casey coming home?' She asked, trying to sound indifferent, but, unfortunately, she had no such luck. Her mother shot her an amused look.

'You _darling_ sisters should be here in at least 5 minutes.' She answered. Hermione looked at her curiously.

'I thought that they were supposed to be here now?' She asked.

'Oh, they are, but remember, they spend at least 5 minutes talking to…' Her mother started.

'Josh and Calleb.' Hermione finished, rolling her eyes and waved her fork in time to her speech. Draco laughed lightly at his girlfriends' antics and at her face.

After 5 minutes of a silent breakfast, they heard the door open and two girls enter.

'Bye Josh! Bye Calleb! We'll see you tomorrow!' They called from the door. He could see Hermione mimicking them and stifled his laughter.

He turned to see the girls close the door and turn around, giggling to each other sneaking peeks at the door. That was when one of them noticed Hermione.

'Look who finally came back from the dead.' She said. Hermione groaned.

'I wondered how long it would take until you noticed me.' She shot back.

'That's too easy. You're too plain to be noticed.' The other shot back at her. Hermione shot them both a glare and turned back to eating her cereal.

'Girls, that is quite enough, we have a guest, try to be polite.' Mrs. Granger said sternly. The two older girls, who looked like twins to Draco, finally seemed to know that he existed.

'Oh, who is this young boy?' The one on the right, who first started speaking, asked. Hermione turned and looked them full in the eye.

'That's my boyfriend, Draco Malfoy.' Hermione told them. Draco could have burst out laughing from the looks of shock on their twin faces. Then, to his absolute surprise, they burst into laughter instead.

'Oh Hermione! That's rich! Yeah right!' They yelled through their laughter. Hermione shot another glare at the twin devils and turned back. Draco could see the hurt on her face and decided to do something about it. Mr. Granger had left some time ago, just before Hermione's sisters had walked in, so he only had to look at her mother.

He mouthed his intentions to her and was happily surprised when she smiled and nodded her head. He grinned at her and turned to Hermione.

'Hey 'Mione?' He asked. She turned towards him with the same hurt look on her face. He grinned at her and closed the distance between them quickly, capturing her in a soft, sweet, delicate kiss, that soon turned into a full-blown snog session. Hermione her arms around his neck and Draco had his hands on her waist and on the back of her head, tangled in her hair.

When they broke apart, they looked at each other before looking over at her sisters. Draco broke into laughter at the sight of their faces and Hermione soon followed after.

'Apparently others notice me.' She said. The girls turned their looks of complete and utter shock at the kiss, looks of disgust and anger. They glared at the couple and stalked off upstairs to dump their stuff up in their rooms. Hermione looked back at Draco.

'Thanks, I really can't stand them.' She said. Draco grinned at her.

'That's fine. I could see it in your face you were unhappy. I wanted to do something.' He said. Hermione smiled happily at him.

'Aww, thank you.' She answered. She soon had his lips back on hers and was kissing him again. Mrs. Granger rolled her eyes.

'Alright, break it up you two. We don't want to make the girls too jealous, they might take action.' She said. They pulled apart, slightly pink from embarrassment. Mrs. Granger smirked at them and picked up the Newspaper that her husband didn't take with him.

'Why don't I show you around town?' Hermione suggested after a few seconds of awkward silence. Draco nodded thoughtfully.

'Sounds like a plan.' He said, smiling. Hermione smiled at him and they went to get some shoes on and some money, before heading out of the door with a shout from Hermione's mother telling them not to take too long or she would send her sisters after them. Hermione shuddered at the idea.

They walked slowly down her street and pulled into the main drag of her town.

'You don't live that far from the main part, do you?' Draco asked as the walked past an array of shops. Hermione shook her head.

'Nope, we usually get all our exercise from walking down to the shops and walking back with our arms loaded with groceries.' Hermione explained laughing slightly. Draco followed and they walked past a small ice creamery.

'Do you want to get some ice cream?' He asked. Hermione nodded and they went in and ordered.

They sat outside on the seats and ate it, laughing and talking about everything until Hermione noticed something.

'Kaz!' She yelled, trying to get a girls' attention from across the road.

Draco followed her line of sight and saw the girl in question and knew at once that she must have one of Hermione's friends from around the town.

The girl had pale skin that stood out against her long, straight pitch black hair. She would have only been a little bit taller than Hermione herself and wasn't much bigger. She was wearing a pair of black skinny leg jeans and a black shirt that had deliberate cuts through it with red in the background, so as not to show skin.

The girl in question turned around at the sound of her name and her eyes lit up instantly. She said goodbye to her other friends and headed across the road quickly to where her friend was sitting with Draco.

She embraced Hermione like a long lost friend and sat down on the other side of her.

'Kaz, I haven't seen you in ages!' Hermione said enthusiastically after sitting down with her.

'I know it has been way too long since we've been able to talk.' The girl named Kaz answered.

To make himself subtly known, Draco put a soft hand on Hermione's lower back. Hermione jumped a little at the contact, but smiled at him sweetly.

'Sorry. I forgot to introduce you. Kaz, this is my boyfriend, Draco Malfoy. Draco, this is my best girl friend, Katrina Muse.' Hermione introduced. They shook hands and went back to talking.

'So, my Hermione has finally grown up and gotten herself a boyfriend. That is so cool.' Kaz said, putting a hand over her heart and blinked away fake tears.

Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes.

'You're almost as bad as my sisters.' She teased. Kaz shot her a glare and realised what she said.

'So, those bitchs are back. And you saw them this morning. I saw them get out of the car this morning and wave goodbye to Calleb and Josh.' Kaz said, rolling her eyes.

'Yep. We gave them a pleasant surprise, didn't we Draco?' Hermione said, smiling mischievously at him. Draco grinned back.

'Yep. I couldn't believe their faces when I looked back at them. You mother seemed to find it amusing too.' Draco said. Hermione grimaced a little and turned back to Kaz.

'So what did you actually do to shock them that much?' She asked. Hermione smirked.

'They didn't believe that Draco was my boyfriend, so, he snogged me. Their faces were the funniest.' Hermione laughed. Kaz snorted at her best friends' antics.

'I can just see it know.' Kaz said, and then put on the best shocked look that she could manage without bursting into fits of laughter.

'That was about it.' Hermione answered through her own laughter. Draco was laughing at the look on the girls' face.

'So, did you just get off school or something?' Kaz asked. Hermione and Draco nodded.

'This year was probably the worst with the OWLs and everything. All that studying nearly made me burst.' Hermione said. Draco snorted.

'I thought you like studying. Considering I had to forcibly remove you from the library most of the time.' Draco said. Hermione shot him a nasty glare.

'I don't enjoy it; I just want to do well. So I study heaps.' Hermione answered. Draco looked past her to Kaz.

'Did you go to school with her before Hogwarts?' Draco asked, then realised what he had said and clamped a hand over his mouth. Hermione patted him on the shoulder.

'She knows.' Hermione said. Draco nodded, slightly ashamed and looked back at her. Kaz nodded.

'Yes, unfortunately, I did. And she was just as bad.' She answered.

Hermione hit her in the shoulder and poked her tongue out at her. Kaz poked her tongue out right back at her and they both burst into laughter. Draco just shook his head. This is why he liked hanging around with the boys better. No stupid antics.

'So, you go to the same school as Hermione? So you do the whole….' Kaz started making lots of extravagant arm movements and jabs with one of her arms in the air over her head. Draco gave her an incredulous look.

'Yes, I go to school with Hermione and I do the whole….' Draco did the same thing as she did and Kaz poked her tongue out at him.

'Hang on. I seem to remember Mione talking to me about you. Of course, it was only nasty things.' Kaz teased.

'I wouldn't put it past her. We weren't friends until this year.' Draco stated. Hermione had turned bright red and Draco was smirking at her; so was Kaz.

'So, Hermione, how far?' Kaz asked offhandedly. Draco started choking on his ice cream and Hermione turned even redder.

'Well, um, I don't know.' Hermione mumbled. Draco had a tinge of red on his cheeks now and was hiding his face behind his hair, which was slowly getting longer. Kaz smirked.

'Come on Mione, you can tell me. And since it was with him, he already knows. Please?' She begged, with the biggest smile on her face. Hermione glared at her and muttered something.

'What was that? I didn't hear it.' Kaz teased. Hermione shot her another forceful glare.

'All the way alright!' Hermione practically shouted. Draco winced slightly at her voice and saw Kaz's face.

'You what?' She asked steadily.

'You heard me; I'm not saying it again.' Hermione answered.

'No Hermione, you didn't say it, you yelled it to the heavens.' Draco said. Hermione at least had the decency to blush.

'Sorry.' She mumbled. Kaz was in hysterics.

'So you lost it?' She asked.

'No.' Hermione said quietly. Kaz's eyes widened.

'How many times?' She asked. Hermione and Draco both thought that this conversation was getting rather awkward.

'Just once.' Hermione said. Kaz looked confused.

'Then how . . . OH MY GOD! You already lost it! When and with who?' She asked, and then she saw Draco.

'Sorry Draco, but this is something that I have to know. So?' She pried Hermione. Said girl now resembled a beetroot.

'Last year. With an international Quidditch Player.' Hermione said carefully. She tried really hard not to look at Draco. He already knew of course, but that didn't stop the awkwardness that would still flood through her at the sight of him.

'You what!?' She nearly yelled. 'You didn't. How could you? Was he hot? Tell all.' Kaz insisted. Hermione looked at the girl meaningfully.

'Can we discuss this another time?' Hermione jerked her head towards Draco, who seemed to be inspecting his finger nails. Kaz nodded her head understandingly and smirked at him.

'A little uncomfortable there Draco?' She asked teasingly. Draco looked back at her and smiled politely.

'Well, you are talking about my girlfriends' sex life, that hasn't been with me, so I would have to say yes to that.' Draco answered. Kaz smirked good-naturedly and laughed.

'So true. I'd be a little uncomfortable in your position too. Though, I'm not gay, get that in your head right now.' Kaz said. Draco and Hermione laughed.

'Are you sure Kaz? I mean, no one could tell.' A voice from behind them said.

They all turned around and Hermione groaned. The Devil Twins - as Draco had dubbed them - had turned up.

'I'm completely sure. I heard about your little shock this morning. Too bad that is. See I wouldn't be so shocked. I know Hermione has potential.' Kaz sneered back to them; they just grinned wickedly.

'Yeah, yeah, I bet he's getting paid.' One of them said. Draco raised an eyebrow as he slid an arm around Hermione's lower waist and pulled her even closer next to him.

'I don't need to get paid. My family is one of the richest in Britain.' Draco told them. Again, like this morning, they laughed.

'Yeah, like Hermione could get anyone rich.' The other scoffed. Hermione turned her back on her sisters and felt the tears sting the corners of her eyes. She leaned against Draco and just breathed deeply. Kaz gazed at her with concerned eyes.

'Well, she did. She's about as famous as my family too. She's saved hundreds of lives so far.' Draco said. He wrapped his other arm around her front and hugged her as he felt her lean in.

_That poor girl. I'd hate to have siblings like these._ Draco thought.

'Ha, as if that freak could save anyone.' The taller one said. Hermione had had enough.

'Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up!' She yelled, jumping up and facing them. Hermione was so angry that the sodas her sisters were holding exploded.

'Just because I have powers that make me different does NOT make me a freak! Just leave me alone!' She screamed at them. The girls looked absolutely scandalised as the saw their shirts and Draco was staring at his girlfriend in awe as Kaz was on the ground in laughter. Hermione stormed off around the corner, not hearing Draco and Kaz calling after her.

As soon as she rounded the corner, a pair of strong hands clasped over her mouth and around her stomach. Hermione tried squealing and kicking, but the man holding her was incredibly strong.

'Well, well, well, look who we have here; little Miss Granger, out on her own. I thought that you would have known better after that little mishap at the station; apparently not.' A voice whispered in her ear.

Hermione stopped struggling at once and she swore that her heart skipped a beat in fear. Her eyes were wide and she was breathing very deeply. Lucius Malfoy. Just then, she heard two voices about to round the corner where she was being held captive.

'Hermione! Hermione, love, where are you?' That voice was Draco's, she knew it instantly.

Hermione again tried struggling, but, as soon as the other two came around the corner, and got a glimpse of Hermione in Lucius' arms, before he apparated away, leaving behind a furious Draco, and a scared Kaz.

A/N: Here are the amazing people that helped me out and gave reviews and such:

Nihama9492

LadyBash17

mickey823

Strawberry Moon Bunny

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and, the grand thank you goes to (drum roll!) **Raina Darlig!!** This person gave me two huge reviews full of ideas! Thank you so much!!


	16. Chapter Sixteen

A/N: I know, I know, this has taken a ridiculous amount of time to write, but you can blame it all on my Italian and Maths teachers for that, they keep heaping stupid amounts of homework on me nearly every night. I hate it. There is also a little thing called, I had no idea how to write this chpater! Nothing I wrote sounded good, so I'd write it again or delete stuff, or stuff like that. I like it now though, so all is good. Please leave a review!

Finding Hermione

Draco was furious. How could his father just steal her away like that? That bastard!

Draco turned to face Kaz, who had a look of complete worry on her face.

'Who was that?' She asked quietly.

'My father.' Draco growled back.

'What? Why would you father want to take Hermione? I mean, what has she ever done to him?' She asked; she still had that same worried sound in her voice.

'Because she's with me.' Draco replied in that same cold voice. He turned on his heel and headed back towards Hermione's house. He had to tell her parents.

At the Granger house, Draco opened the door and went straight up to his room. He had to at least try and look presentable.

On the long walk back (made even longer without the company of Hermione), Draco had just sat on the side of the road and buried his face in his hands. She was gone and he had no way of getting her back without telling Harry and Ron what had happened, and that surely would end in his demise. He had started crying at his lost Hermione, but had gained his composure after about 5 minutes. He had gotten up and kept walking; keeping his head down if a car passed and making it back quickly.

While in his room, Draco washed his face, trying to rid it of the red, puffy eyes that he had after crying.

Seeing that his face was back to normal, he walked down stairs, his eyes downcast.

He saw her parents sitting down in the living room, reading the paper and books. Draco took a deep breath and walked down to stand beside the couch.

Mr. Granger looked up first and saw the fidgeting boy.

'Draco, what's the matter?' He asked the boy worriedly. Draco cast a scared look at him.

'Well, when Hermione and I were out in town, we met up with Kaz and we started talking to her and then her sisters showed up. They started teasing Hermione about being a witch; she absolutely lost it and exploded their sodas before storming off. We went after her, but we where too late; as soon as we got there he apparated away with her. Father, he got her, and I couldn't do anything to stop it.' By the end of his story, Draco was crying freely and looking at his feet. He just let the tears slide down his face.

Mr. and Mrs. Granger were also in tears from what Draco had told them and had their heads in their hands.

Mr. Granger lifted his head up.

'So, Hermione, she's . . . she's . . . gone?' He asked between sobs. Draco nodded and sat down with them.

After a few minutes of mourning, Draco heard a tapping on the window outside the house.

He looked up and saw Hedwig sitting on the windowsill outside and tapping lightly on the window to get noticed.

Draco got up and went to let her in and she flew in and onto the coffee table between the couches and held out her leg for Draco to take the letter.

After taking the letter off her leg, he sat on the couch to read it.

_Hey Draco, Hermione,_

_How are you all? How are your holidays so far? I hope everything is alright. Has Mr. Malfoy found you yet? Please let me know if everything is alright. _

_Harry. _

Draco's eyes started watering again and he walked up into his room to go get a quill and ink, and told Harry exactly what had happened and that he wanted to go back to the Head Quarters and start working on how to get her back..

He walked back downstairs with the letter and tied it onto Hedwig's leg.

'Hurry.' He said to her when letting her out.

After she was out of sight, Draco went to sit back on the couch with Hermione's parents and awaited the reply.

After an hour, Draco got a reply that was sharp and to the point.

_What!! I can't believe it! Where were you in all of this? You should have gone straight after her! Right, we're coming to pick you up now. Don't move, don't go anywhere. We're coming._

_Harry._

Draco looked at it and read it twice over before hearing a knock at the door. He looked over to her parents. He nodded to them and went to the door, taking out his wand.

When he reached the door, he looked through the hole in the wood and saw Harry standing rather impatiently outside the door. Draco opened the door to let him in.

When Harry quickly came through the door, he embraced Draco. The blonde could see the tears staining Harry's face.

'Go get your stuff. We're leaving. A few others are standing guard just at the edge of the driveway. Hurry up, I want to get out of here and start trying to make plans on getting Hermione back safely.' Harry said; anyone could tell that he was trying to hold back tears.

Draco nodded absentmindedly and went up to his bedroom to collect his stuff and came back down quickly.

The atmosphere around the house was tense and upsetting.

Draco dropped his stuff at the front door and went back to Mr. and Mrs. Granger.

'I'm sorry that this has happened. I should have been quicker, but it just happened. All of us are going to help bring her back. Many - no, let me rephrase that - everyone will surely die, if it comes to that, to bring her back. Now, I really hope it won't come to that, in fact, I'm sure it won't, but, we will bring her home. I'll make sure of it.' Draco promised them.

They both nodded their heads and started silently crying again.

Draco hugged Hermione's mother and shook hands with her father before following Harry out the door and down the street.

After finding an alleyway close to Hermione's house, they apparated to the parkland right outside number 12.

They entered quickly and went straight into the kitchen where everyone else was waiting for them to turn up.

Upon entering, all eyes turned to look up at the incomers. All the eyes held sympathy when they turned to Draco, and Sirius even got up and embraced him.

'I'm sorry Draco. I know you would have tried to save her.' He mumbled as he held the boy.

Draco nodded and broke away before sitting at the table and looking down at his fidgeting hands.

The other all took their seats and Harry started off.

'So, to start off, we're going to need a full account of what happened. Draco, can you tell us?' Harry asked.

All eyes turned to Draco as the boy looked up and at everyone at the table. Draco nodded his head and started off his tale. By the end of it, heads were in hands and Harry and Ron were both red in the face with fury.

'Bastard!' Ron yelled, thumping his fist on the table.

'Calm it down Ron, we'll get her back, don't worry.' Ginny soothed, rubbing his back and trying to make him calm down. Draco again had tears flowing down his face, and so did Sierra, Ginny and Mrs. Weasley.

Harry calmed down soon after and turned back to the room at large.

'So, what do we do?' He asked. They all looked thoughtful for a few moments before Draco spoke up.

'We can't do anything until we know where she is. Then we can try and make up a plan. But, until then, we work out where.' He said with defiance.

Harry looked into Draco's eyes and could see not only determination, but hurt, fear and sadness. He swore he could also see self-loathing in those brilliant silver eyes.

All around them, they heard murmurs of agreement at what Draco had said.

'Where do we think she is?' Remus asked.

'She could be in the Malfoy Manor dungeons, which would be my first guess.' Draco answered. They nodded thoughtfully at what he said, but still looked a little hopeless.

Harry clapped his hands together and leaned forward.

'Well, we can't do much until we hear where she is. Until then, keep your ears open and try and find to find out everything you can about it.' He told everyone.

For the next hour, they talked about how to find information out on Hermione's whereabouts.

After finishing the talk, Draco immediately left the Kitchen and made his way up into his room, which now had a sign on it saying his name, and had his stuff put into it, and laid down on his bed. Draco cried that night. He lost Hermione, and he considered it his fault.

_If I had only got there sooner!_ Draco cursed himself. After an hour, Draco fell asleep.

Over the next few days, no one had a clue how to find out where Hermione was.

Draco was in a state of soberness. He talked to no one, stayed in his room most of the time and only came out to eat, then would retreat back.

No one could get him into talking with anyone and they found this particularly annoying. They needed him.

The next day, most of the Order was sitting around the table when Harry heard a tapping on the window.

He looked at it curiously, wondering how it knew where to go; he hadn't seen this type of owl around the Order Headquarters before.

He went over to the window and opened it. The owl swooped in and landed on the table in front of Sirius.

Sirius looked at the owl curiously, before his eyes widened in shock.

'This is a Malfoy owl.' He announced. They all turned very alert ears to the unwelcome bird as Sirius untied the letter. The bird flew off at once and Sirius read the name out on the letter.

'Draco Malfoy. It's for Draco.' He said.

'I'll go get him.' Ron offered, leaving the table and walking up to Draco's room.

He knocked on the door and waited for an answer.

When none came, Ron tried again.

'Draco, mate, come on out, there's a letter for you out here, it's from one of your parents, it might have something to do with Hermione in it. Come out!' Ron yelled through the door. He heard Draco get up and come to the door quickly.

Said door opened quickly and a very dishelved Draco stood in the doorway.

'Which parent?' He asked simply, pleading with his eyes to get the right answer, one that Ron didn't know.

'We don't know, since it was for you, we didn't open it.' He answered. Draco nodded and raced downstairs in his baggy pants and no shirt.

When he got down the stairs, he saw everyone in the Kitchen, just staring at the letter in front of Sirius.

To make himself known, he cleared his throat and spoke.

'Did anyone read it?' He asked. They all looked up at the sound of his voice, which had been very scarcely heard over the past couple of days and shook their heads.

'Can I have it?' He asked, walking forward to the table.

Sirius handed him the letter and Draco sat down on the other side of Harry where a seat was free.

Ron came in and took his seat back beside Ginny while Draco nervously opened his letter with everyone watching him.

Draco looked straight to the bottom for the person who had sent it to him.

'It's from mother.' He announced curiously. Everyone looked at him in surprise. He didn't sound scared, merely astounded that his mother had sent the letter.

Draco read the letter quietly to himself.

_Dearest Draco, _

_I'm sorry about what has happened, but there is something I must tell you. The Granger girl was brought into our house a couple of days ago and I overheard Lucius talking to her about you. Is it true that you fell for her? Do not worry my darling, I do not mind. In fact I am happy that you were able to break free of all your fathers' prejudices. She stays in the dungeons beneath your old room. I must be the one to feed her every night and morning, so do not fear, she will be fine. _

_She cries every night for you darling, help her soon, I fear she might die of grief. _

_There is something else I must tell you also. For ever since I have been able to research back, there has been a curse, passed down from male Malfoy to male Malfoy; this is why the Malfoy's always have sons; the curse. It is that by the age of seventeen, you must produce an heir with the woman you are truly in love with, or else you will bleed to death by gashes made in your body every night. _

_I'm sorry to tell you this Draco, but your father plans on keeping Granger here until you turn seventeen, he is trying to punish you. _

_Hurry and you may be able to save yourself and Granger. Remember what I told you._

_With all my love,_

_Narcissa Malfoy._

Draco sighed and rested his head in his arms on the table. He handed the note to Harry.

'Read it aloud.' He instructed. Harry took the letter from him and read it aloud to everyone in the room.

By the end of it, Ginny and Sierra were in tears and Sirius, James and Remus were furious at Lucius Malfoy.

When Harry finished reading the letter, he looked up at everyone.

'Well, now we know where she is. How do we get her back?' He asked the room at large.

For the rest of the morning, they went over and produced plans to save Hermione from the clutches of Lucius Malfoy and get her back safely.

Hermione woke from unconsciousness to find Narcissa standing in front of her with a tray of food.

Hermione groaned slightly from the pain that coursed through her body as she tried to move. The chains that Malfoy Senior had placed around her wrists to hold her up onto the wall had sharp edges, but only just sharp enough to take off a layer of skin.

She whimpered slightly and looked up gratefully and helplessly at Narcissa, as the older woman walked forward and started feeding her the food that she had cooked herself without Lucius knowing.

Hermione ate gratefully. It was not often that she was fed; in fact she was tortured more frequently than she was fed.

Narcissa was a huge help though, she would talk to Hermione and tell her that everything would be fine; that Draco would come and find her any day now.

Hermione had asked her how she knew this many a time, but she would only get a smile and a shake of her head. Hermione would frown at the woman if she found the strength within her, because Narcissa would mostly come after Lucius had left and Hermione was tired and lethargic after being hit with the cruciatus, or Lucius would sometimes use more effective forms of muggle torture on her; he found them to get a better reaction out of her.

Hermione would often come out of the torture sessions with bad cuts, gashes and holes in her body, from all the types of torture the evil man inflicted on her. Narcissa would heal some of the minor ones that Lucius wouldn't notice, but had to keep the other major ones, for Lucius would notice those ones.

'Here.' Narcissa offered, holding a spoon to her mouth for her to take a sip of.

Hermione carefully sipped the scolding soup and moaned again, betraying the awful amount of pain that she was going through.

Narcissa smiled painfully at her, and took in the sight of the new tears to her robes and the new wounds that showed through a vibrant red compared to her pale skin. She found the very minor wounds on her wrists and healed them quickly before moving to other parts of her body to check for them.

Quickly healing what she could, she turned back to the soup that she had left discarded on the floor.

Picking it up, she helped Hermione finish it before putting the tray back on the floor and helping her drink some of the water that Narcissa had brought with her for the parched girl. Hermione's voice was usually hoarse after screaming from Lucius' "sessions".

'Are you feeling better?' She asked kindly. Hermione nodded and tried talking.

'Do you have any news about how Draco and my friends are doing?' Hermione asked hoarsely. Narcissa smiled gently at the girl.

'Don't worry, Draco and the others are all okay. Draco is still as worried about you as ever. They are all fine.' Narcissa answered. Hermione sighed in relief and hung her head.

'I think I might try and get to sleep. I might need it for tomorrow.' Hermione whispered. Narcissa nodded her head and picked up the tray, taking it with her out of the door and slipping away quietly.

Hermione fell into a restless sleep, dreaming of Draco, and of dying in this hell-hole.

_Where is he?_ She thought.

Over the next few days, they all planned what was to happen and received frequent updates from Narcissa about what was going on with Hermione's physical, emotional and mental health. Over all, she was fine, but missed Draco terribly and sometimes wouldn't eat because of it.

Narcissa told them that she was the nicest that she could be with Hermione with Lucius in the house, but was able to get her to eat and told her reassuring things.

Draco had the sense that they would soon have to hide his mother from the clutches of his father because of all the help she gave them with Hermione.

After about a week, Hermione wasn't sure really, she hadn't been counting, and there weren't any windows in the dungeon, so she could only guess that Malfoy Senior came in once a day to hurt her. She figured that he would be entering soon.

She was right.

Lucius Malfoy walked through the door and swept over to where Hermione was hung against the wall.

Coming up to her, he took her chin in his hand and looked into her eyes.

Hermione stared back with an odd defiance for someone that had been reduced to tears by this man and roughly pulled her chin away from him.

He slapped her hard in the face and Hermione whimpered slightly at the hard contact and felt him place a knife to her throat.

'Shall we begin from where we left off yesterday?' He asked quietly, but with a no-nonsense tone that was deadly. Hermione glared at the man and lifted her head.

Lucius slowly ran the knife lightly across her throat, but hard enough to draw blood from her throat.

Hermione winced at the pain of the wound and felt the tears forming in her eyes already, even though it was still early in the "routine".

'You are weak mudblood. If I wasn't planning on keeping you so Draco would not be able to fulfil the curse, I would kill you now. But, as it is, I need you. But I will let myself just have the fun I need.' Lucius said, lowering the knife and putting it to her stomach. He pushed it in lightly, but soon it was being pushed in harder, and Hermione could barely suppress a painful gasp and the tears flowing down her eyes from the pain.

After a week of planning, they finally had a plan that they deemed virtually fool proof.

Apparently they found out that Draco's animagus was a snake, so they put him as the person to go in the house first and tell them if the coast was clear using Harry's skills with being a pastlemouth.

They would sneak into the house and find the dungeon where Hermione was held in, with invisible Order members scattered down the halls and all over the house to keep look out. They used a special type of coin that Draco had cast charms on to send each other messages about what was going on and whether Death Eaters are heading their way.

They would try to get Hermione out as quickly as possible without that much trouble and without having to fight that much.

That night, everyone got ready for the plan that would take place the next day.

A/N: Now, please let me thank all those special people out there:

kxmalfoy

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Raina Darlig

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I love you all so very much! Thank you for reviewing, it really made my day to know that you enjoyed reading my last chapter!


	17. Chapter Seventeen

A/N: Hey! I'm so sorry I haven't updated in ages, but I haven't had the time. And, yes I will admit, I have been a bit lazy. But loved all the reviews that came in from my last chapter! Thank you all. Now, I won't bore you anymore, I just hope that this extra long chapter will make up for it! Have fun reading. 

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Harry Potter is not mine and never will be to my utmost disappointment.

Everyone woke up early the next morning and ate a quick and silent breakfast before getting dressed and showered and meeting back in the Kitchen.

Harry stood in front of everyone and held up his hands.

'Are we ready?' He asked the silent room.

They all nodded and Harry gave a slight nod before catching Draco's eye and the man in question came up in front of them and caught everyone's gaze.

'Can all the underage wizards pair up with an overage wizard?' He instructed. Ginny, Sierra and Harry paired up with Remus, Kingsley and Tonks.

'Do you all have your enchanted coins?' He asked. Everyone nodded and held up their coins for the boy to see.

Draco nodded and took out his own. Looking it over, he sighed and placed it back into his pocket.

Draco walked over and stood beside Sirius and they made their way out of the door and into the park opposite, as there were wards up in the actual house against apparition.

In the park, they split up to stand behind trees and out of sight of muggles, but with each other able to see Draco.

Draco counted down on his fingers and, when he reached three, they all apparated to the forest just outside the Malfoy Manor and they gathered deeper into it.

Once there, they all turned to face Draco and Harry. The latter nodded at the former and Draco turned into his animagus before all their eyes.

Snake Draco turned to look at Harry and spoke to him in Parseltongue.

_Can you understand me?_ He asked. Harry nodded his head and Snake Draco nodded his. Harry nodded at Kingsley and he quickly performed the Disillusionment charms on everyone and Snake-Draco nodded his snake head and slithered in the general direction of the Mansion.

Harry and the others followed him quietly, making sure to make as less noise as possible.

At the door, Harry silenced it and opened it, letting Snake-Draco slither through.

The others followed from a distance, but Remus stayed at the front door to keep watch.

Harry stayed far enough away from Draco so that he could only see his tail slide around a corner. At certain intervals, Order members stood at a corner, or along a rather wide corridor.

As they ventured lower, soon only Harry and Snake-Draco were the only ones still walking.

When they reached a particularly evil looking door, Snake-Draco turned to Harry.

_Stay here, I'll bring her out._ He hissed. Harry nodded, and then remembered that he couldn't see him.

_Of course_, Harry answered in Parseltongue. Snake-Draco nodded his head and Harry opened the silenced door to let Snake-Draco inside.

As he slithered in, Draco stopped dead at the sight before him.

His father was standing in front of Hermione, with what looked like a knife being pushed against her stomach.

He felt all of his anger bubble up inside of him. Before he knew what he was doing, he turned back into his human form, took out his wand and advanced on his father.

Draco turned the man around and punched hard in the face, making him fall to the ground and pointed his wand at his face.

Before Lucius could take out his wand, Draco yelled the Disarming Charm.

'Expelliarmus!' Lucius looked up into the loath-filled eyes of his son with fear filled ones of his own. Lucius gave a slightly shaky laugh.

'You wouldn't kill me Draco, you're too weak.' Lucius said, though anyone could pick out the worried tone in his voice. Draco's eyes flashed dangerously.

'Try me.' He answered in a dead whisper that made both Hermione and Lucius shiver with fear.

'Never, touch my girlfriend again. Never.' Draco whispered.

Lucius nodded feverently, but before anything else could be done, the man was hit by a bright red stunner and Hermione and Draco looked up to see Harry standing in the doorway, holding his wand out. He quickly pocketed it and walked over to them.

'Now we won't have any troubles.' Harry said.

'Come on, I wanted to do that.' Draco said. Harry smirked.

'Too bad.' He answered. Draco rolled his eyes and they both turned worried eyes to Hermione, which quickly turned to eyes of horror.

'What did he do to you?' Draco asked in a whisper.

Hermione's robes were nearly entirely torn off of her body and scratches and scars of scratches could be seen all over her body under the pieces of robes.

'Oh Hermione.' Draco whispered. He reached forward and touched her face lightly. She flinched slightly at the contact and Draco felt the tears come to his eyes.

He turned to Harry.

'We have to get her out of here. Come on.' Draco said. Harry nodded absently. They both reached up and when they touched the chains that held her up there. They found that they had sharp edges to them and Draco found that the anger that had abated when he had laid eyes on Hermione return. Harry saw his eyes flash again and laid a hand on Draco's shoulder.

'We have to get her out of here, forget about it for the moment. We'll get him back somehow.' Harry insisted. Draco nodded, but still felt the anger of seeing Hermione in so much pain hurt him worse than anything else in the world.

The two of them worked quickly but carefully and got Hermione down as soon as possible. Draco picked her up in his arms and held onto her carefully. Hermione whimpered slightly and Draco thought his heart was going to break.

'Come on sweetheart. We'll be home soon. Just make it home and then you can sleep, I'll stay with you and everything. I'll never let you out of my sight again. I promise.' Draco whispered to her. She just nodded and curled up against him.

Harry led the way back down the corridor and he heard all the other Order members following them.

As they reached the front door, they saw Remus and Narcissa whispering to each other. They looked up when they saw the two of them coming and hurried up to them.

'Is she alright?' Remus asked as soon as they reached them.

'She'll be alright once we get her home and comfortable. Father is stunned in the dungeons; I just thought I'd mention that. We must leave; I don't know how much more she can take.' Draco answered, looking down concernedly at his love. Narcissa put her hand to Hermione's cheek and caressed it lightly.

'Didn't I tell you he would come?' She said, smiling at the hurt girl. Hermione smiled back slightly and rested her head back on Draco's shoulder. Narcissa ran her hand over her hair and stood back.

'Go, now, before anyone comes, and hurry.' She added. They nodded at her and took off for the forest, but not before Draco kissed his mothers' cheek and thanked her for all of her help.

In the forest, they all went as deep as they dared and Draco handed Hermione over to Remus and went over to stand with Sirius. On the count of three, they apparated back into the park opposite Grimmauld Place and immediately went inside and placed Hermione in Draco's bed as Sirius, James, Remus and Mrs. Weasley all started tending to her wounds and helping her to eat and drink. They fed her potion after potion to help her heal and get her strength back.

Professor Snape was asked to come to the Headquarters to give her the potions she needed. He stayed for a short time before heading back to the school where he stayed during the holidays.

Throughout everything, Draco stayed by her side. He only ever left to go get food for both of them and to perform customary hygiene. He would talk to her for hours on end and they would stay up all night, just talking softly to each other and cuddling up close, just to feel each other, to know that they were actually there, and not a figment of their imagination.

It took Hermione a good month to get over what she had gone through at Malfoy Manor and she didn't think that she could ever see Draco in the same light, because his face was so like his fathers. It scared her to think that she couldn't properly look into the face of the man she loved more than anything else.

It took another few weeks for her to clean her mind of everything that happened; though she wouldn't talk about it with anyone, not Ginny, Draco, Sierra, Ron or Harry. It only brought back unhappy feelings and memories that made her eyes water at the mention of them. The bright side was that she could look at Draco properly again. She would just look into his eyes for long stages of time, figuring out the differences between them and Lucius'. It turned out that there were a great many. Draco's eyes were rather softer, were as, Lucius' eyes were hard and cold; Draco's were silver, rather than the steely grey of his fathers. You could see into Draco's soul when you looked into his eyes. You could see nothing but hate, malice and steel when you looked into the eyes of one Malfoy Senior. All in all, she no longer saw Lucius Malfoy in his sons' eyes. She felt secure once again with Draco's arms around her.

Many of the people in Grimmauld Place still gave her worried looks when she walked down the halls, as if she was just about to burst into hysterical tears, or cry out in pain. She ignored it mostly and tried to act normally around them, not that it worked well, they still noticed her seclusion.

Draco was the only one that she would talk to the most out of everyone in the house, other than Ginny. They all knew that it would take her some time to get back to normal again, after all that she had been through.

Two months later, everyone was still looking at her the same way, and Hermione was getting sick of it. She was pretty much back to normal, she could talk properly with all of the people in the house and was acting normally.

Hermione was sitting on Draco on the couch in the living room talking with all of her friends. But there was one problem; only Ginny and Draco were actually acting as the usually would.

Harry and Ron kept shooting Hermione worried looks and would talk to her in an unusually gentle voice. Hermione thought that she was about to crack.

Then it came, the comment that made her crack. Ron had said that in her "current condition" she shouldn't be doing any work to help out Mrs. Weasley.

'Ronald Billius Weasley! I am not a two year old! There is nothing wrong with me! I am fine! I have been fine for almost a month now! Stop treating me like I'm some doll!' She screamed. Ron and Harry both stared at her in horror as she stood there in front of them fuming. Ginny wouldn't have been surprised if smoke had come out of her ears.

Draco still sat down on the chair and sniggered to himself. He was wondering how long it would take before Hermione cracked from being treated like a baby anymore.

Hermione stood screaming at them for another minute before Draco thought he better put a stop to it.

He stood up and walked up behind her.

'Hermione, love, they're only trying to make sure that you're alright. Please stop being so harsh on them.' Draco whispered lovingly in her ear, sliding his arms around her waist and kissing her neck lightly. He shot a look at the expression on the boys' faces and they glared at him when they saw the mirth in his eyes.

'But they get me so annoyed!' Hermione cried in frustration. Draco let go of her waist and grabbed her hands.

'Love, be nice. They only mean well.' He said again. Hermione sighed and Draco attempted to lead her out of the room.

'Why don't we get away from here for a while? Let's head up to your room.' He offered. Hermione nodded and Draco turned to smirk at the other boys' and girls' in the room. Harry and Ron shook their heads at his antics and Ginny and Sierra rolled their eyes. Draco led Hermione back up to her room, and needless to say, neither one of them was seen until dinner, and when they did come down, they looked horrible. Draco came down grinning and Hermione was slightly more modest, having a slight tinge of colour on her cheeks and sat down quietly beside Draco. Harry and Ron exchanged knowing grins with each other.

'How was your time calming Hermione down Draco?' Harry asked with a little too much innocence. Draco shot Harry a glare.

'Perfect.' Draco replied. Hermione's blush became more furious on her cheeks. Ginny and Sierra raised an eyebrow at each other and smirked.

'Are you all calm now Hermione?' They teased. Hermione glared at the two witches and went back to waiting patiently for her meal. The two girls' smirks just widened.

The adults all looked at both the teens with confused and amused eyes (Sirius, James and Remus amused; everyone else confused.).

Mrs. Weasley sent the food over to the table from the Kitchen bench and sat down next to Mr. Weasley as everyone started ladling food onto their plates.

Hermione was silent for most of the way through dinner and rarely spoke to anyone. Ginny and Sierra still snuck her sly looks and their smirks could be seen even though they were eating.

After dinner, everyone sat around the table and talked until they saw fit to go to bed.

They all headed up to their rooms and entered their separate rooms.

'So, Hermione how was it?' Ginny asked after they had gotten changed into their pyjamas and laid down on their beds.

Hermione rolled her eyes and sat up.

'You really want all the gory details?' She asked disbelievingly. Both girls immediately sat up in their beds and looked at her expectantly. Hermione sighed and started with the details. She really didn't know why they wanted to know.

After she finished, both stared at her with wide eyes. Hermione rolled her eyes again.

'Gin, stop acting like I haven't told you about this before. I told you about Victor and my first with Draco, and you still act shocked.' Hermione stated.

'I know, I know, but wow.' Ginny said. 'You never really elaborated.' Sierra and Hermione laughed at her comment and Hermione threw a pillow at her.

'What?!' Ginny yelled. All three girls started giggling uncontrollably and soon fell asleep from too much laughter; all with smiles on their faces.

Hermione's last conscious thought was why Ginny wanted to know so much.

When Hermione woke up the next morning, she realised that it was her last day of the summer holidays. She sighed happily and sadly at the same time. The end of the holidays was always sad because she had to leave all those that she loved that she couldn't see at Hogwarts, but she loved it because she would be able to go back to school and learn again.

She got out of bed quietly and traipsed down stairs.

In the lounge room, she saw Draco sitting on one of the couches and went to sit next to him.

'You're up early.' She stated as she sat. Draco smiled up at her and took her hand quickly in his and started massaging it. Hermione smiled back at him and looked at him curiously.

'You are too.' He retorted. Hermione laughed lightly at this.

'That I am. I couldn't get back to sleep.' She answered. Draco laughed at this.

'Neither could I.' He answered. Hermione smiled and shook her head.

'Harry, Ron and Ginny like their sleep. They won't be willing to get up until they absolutely have to.' She said. Draco nodded.

'So why are you up so early Mr. Malfoy?' Hermione asked suddenly, turning to face him.

'I just had to think a couple of things through.' He answered, avoiding saying what. Hermione could tell by the way he spoke that he wasn't about to give up any answers as to what it was he was thinking about yet, so she didn't press him for answers.

_Thank Merlin she isn't pressing me. I really don't want to mention that letter yet._ Draco thought. For that was what he was thinking about; his mothers' letter and how to tell Hermione about it. He was contemplating telling her that day, but that could make matters very awkward for a long time during school. Unless, perhaps, she didn't care? Draco had asked himself this many times. What if she didn't care about it?

_But it could still make a fair sized dent in our relationship_. Draco thought. He came to this conclusion every time and he just couldn't figure it out. He figured that he should just make the most of the time he had with her until he absolutely had to tell her.

'Hello, earth to Draco? Are you still with me?' Hermione teased gently. Draco started and looked down at her, narrowing his eyes.

'I don't like that look Draco.' Hermione said nervously. Draco smirked.

'You shouldn't.' He answered and Hermione suddenly got a little scared. Then he pounced. Hermione shrieked as Draco pushed her onto her back and started to tickle her without mercy.

'Draco! No! No! Stop! Please! Stop!' She screamed. Draco shook his head with a crazed look on his face.

'Nope, nothing doing.' He answered. Hermione shrieked with laughter until they both fell onto the couch breathless from laughing so much.

'I haven't laughed so much in ages.' Draco said.

'Lucky I silenced the door when I came in.' Hermione said. Draco laughed again and soon Hermione snuggled in closer to him.

'I love you.' She whispered to him. Draco looked down at her.

'I love you too.' He whispered back and rested his head back against the arm of the couch. They lay in silence for a while before they decided to go outside and check to see if anyone else had decided to make an appearance.

They entered the Kitchen together and James, Sirius, and Remus sitting around the table, all bleary eyed and eating breakfast.

'What's up with you lot?' Draco asked he and Hermione sat down opposite Sirius and James.

'Full moon last night.' Sirius answered. Both Draco and Hermione looked at Remus with pity and sympathy before starting on their own breakfast that Kreacher had placed in front of them.

'Thank you Kreacher.' Hermione said. The elf walked away grumbling and muttering to himself like always and took no notice of Hermione's thanks.

'I don't know why you bother.' Sirius commented. Hermione shot him a look.

'Kreacher may not be human but he deserves to be treated with some respect. He does do all your jobs for you.' Hermione pointed out. Sirius shrugged. He wasn't up for the argument today.

'So, when are you lot going back to school?' James asked.

'Tomorrow.' Hermione answered. Draco was stuffing his face with breakfast.

'Train or Floo?' He asked.

'Train. We've never taken the floo back to school before.' Hermione said.

'Really? I always used to floo to school. Of course I ended up in McGonagall's office. I only had to do this because I usually caused trouble on the train. My parents were getting sick of finding out about it so they sent me to school via floo.' James explained between bites of breakfast. Hermione and Draco nodded and they continued to eat in silence when a bang went off upstairs.

Both teenagers were on their feet in seconds with their wands out and pointed at the door. It was futile though, from what they heard next.

'FRED AND GEORGE WEASLEY!! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!!' Mrs. Weasley screamed. They relaxed visibly but were still a little tense and alert.

Remus and Sirius sighed while James looked slightly confused.

'You haven't been around Fred and George very long. They haven't been around a lot lately. Molly has been very wary of them. They are pranksters that the Hogwarts teachers say rival the Marauders.' Hermione said. James perked up at that last part.

'No one has ever out pranked the Marauders.' He said with defiance. Hermione sniggered.

'You'd be surprised at what they have done. They stole the Marauders' Map from Filch in their first year.' She said. James looked shocked.

'They're the ones that got that?' He asked. Hermione nodded.

'Then they gave it to Harry in our third year so he would be able to get into Hogsmeade when they thought that Sirius was going to kill him.' Hermione answered. James nodded. He was glad that his son eventually got the map.

'Good.' James said with a nod. Soon after, two well-roused at Weasley twins entered the Kitchen and took their positions beside James.

'What did you two do this time?' Draco asked, raising an eyebrow.

'You sound like Hermione; no wonder you two are in love. We just happened to set off a couple of unauthorized products from our new business, Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. We haven't been able to get to seel them yet and they are only prototypes, but we decided to test them, then mum came in and saw us. I'm amazed you couldn't hear her scream at us. She must have silenced the door.' Fred muttered to himself. Hermione rolled her eyes and Draco sniggered.

'What product?' He asked interestedly. Fred and George smirked at each other.

'Well, it's actually a Decoy Detonator. It's used to create a decoy when you need to make a get away without anyone seeing you or get in somewhere without people seeing you. It's quite a marvellous invention actually.' George answered.

'You know, that is a good invention. I mean, Aurors and stuff could use them.' Hermione commented.

'Was Hermione Granger actually complimenting us on something that we did for pranks and jokes?' Fred asked with sarcastically, staring at his brother in mock amazement.

'I think it was Fred. I think it was.' George answered, just as sarcastically. Hermione rolled her eyes and made a face at them. They sniggered and started to eat the breakfast that had been placed in front of them.

Just then, there was a flash of the fireplace and 8 envelopes flew out and in front of the people they were meant for.

'Hey look, it's out Hogwarts letters.' Hermione exclaimed. They all tore into them and ripped out the sheets of parchment out of their envelopes and read them through quickly.

'I got prefect again.' Harry commented.

'So did I.' Draco and Hermione said in unison. They smiled at each other and laughed, pulling out their badges and looking at them.

'What's on the list for this year?' Mrs. Weasley asked. They all handed up their sheets of parchment with the book list and other requirements on it and turned back to their breakfast.

The others soon joined them and they had a very rowdy breakfast.

'What are you all planning on doing today while I go into Diagon Alley and buy all this stuff for you for school tomorrow?' Mrs. Weasley asked the room at large. They looked thoughtful for a while.

'Why don't we take them to see a movie at the local cinemas Harry?' Hermione asked the muggle-raised boy. Harry started to choke on his Butterbeer and looked up at her once he finished choking.

'Why?' He asked after he had gained his breathe.

'Well, they haven't exactly seen one before, have they? It would be a new experience for them and there are some good movies out lately. I checked when I was at my parents' house.' Hermione explained. Harry sighed in resignation.

'Fine, but where is the local cinema around here? I didn't think that there was one.' Harry added. Hermione winced visibly.

'Well, the closest one is in Surrey.' She said hesitantly. Harry jumped and looked at her with wide eyes.

'No, no, no, and a thousand times no.' Harry said. He got up and went to put his dishes on the sink for Kreacher to do later.

'Come on Harry! Please; it's not like you're going to see anyone there. Like the people you know there are going to be at the cinemas. They'll most likely be in a house watching the TV or over at a friends place playing computer and video games.' Hermione reasoned, getting up and following him. Being the only muggle-raised people in the house, the others watched them both with confused eyes.

'No! I will not submit myself to torture if caught!' Harry yelled. James perked up at this.

'What?' He asked. Hermione sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose while leaning on the desk.

'He didn't mean literal torture. He won't be hurt in any way. He's just being over dramatic.' Hermione said.

'No I'm not! If they catch me I'll just be asked why I didn't come back this summer. I really don't think that the answer of, oh, my father randomly came back to life is going to satisfy them, do you?' Harry asked.

'You are such a melodramatic. If they are there, then you will have all of us to back you up. Please?' Hermione begged. Harry glared at her.

'Fine, but it's your fault if I'm caught and I will be forever angry if something horrible happens.' He said. Hermione smiled triumphantly.

'Thank you Harry! I owe you one.' She said, hugging him and running upstairs.

'What was all that about?' Draco asked. Harry could see the jealousy in his eyes and had to try and contain the smirk from flying across his face.

'It turns out we are going to Surrey. Go get dressed in some good clothes.' Harry told them. They looked at each other with confusion, but still went and got dressed. The adults watched with a little apprehension.

They all met back down stairs a few minutes later and Hermione got out something that none of the purebloods were able to determine.

'What is that?' Ron asked, pointing at the phone.

'Oh, this?' Hermione asked, holding out the phone. They nodded. Hermione smirked. 'It's a mobile phone,' she answered, 'I'm using this to call a taxi.'

'Why don't we just take the Knight Bus?' Draco asked.

'Because that thing makes me nauseous.' She answered. They all agreed and Hermione called the taxi.

It took about ten minutes for it to arrive, but they all clambered in and they made their way to the town centre of Surrey. Harry kept his head down for nearly the whole ride; ducking whenever he thought that he saw someone that he knew.

'Oh, would you stop it Harry! You're making me all jumpy!' Hermione yelled at him.

'Sorry! I just don't want to be seen!' He answered, ducking again.

When they got to their destination, Hermione paid the driver and they all got out.

'Where are we going now?' Ginny asked, looking at Hermione. Hermione shrugged and looked at Harry. He sighed and rolled his eyes.

'Follow me.' He drawled and started to lead them down to the cinema complex in the town. He kept his head down and his face covered by his hair and his hands in his pockets the entire time. Hermione started to get annoyed by it. She extracted herself from Draco's arm wrapped around her and poked him rather hard in the back.

'Ouch! What the hell!?' He asked, whipping around and glaring at her while walking backwards.

'Don't slouch Harry, It's bad for your posture.' Hermione teased. The others smirked as he glared at her again and turned around. Sierra walked up beside him and put her arm around his waist. Harry sighed and put his arm around her shoulders and kissed her forehead. Draco also got his arm quickly back around Hermione and she hugged him tighter as they walked.

Soon they were at the cinema and they looked at the movies, well, Harry and Hermione were, the others didn't know what was going on.

'What the hell is this place?' Ron whispered to her. Hermione rolled her eyes.

'This is a cinema Ron. This is where muggles watch movies. Movies are kind of like our moving photographs, except the make sound, loud sound.' She explained. Ron nodded absent-mindedly and looked up at the posters advertising the movies.

'That one looks interesting.' He pointed out to Hermione quietly. He was pointing at Blood Diamond. She raised her eyebrows at him.

'Only if you like lots of blood and gore. I think we see enough of that in our everyday lives.' Hermione pointed out. Ron snorted his agreement and amusement before looking at the other movies.

'Hey Mione, how about this one?' Harry asked. He was pointing at Ocean's 13.

'Hey yeah, I've seen the other ones, they are completely funny. Have you seen any of them?' She asked him. Harry raised an eyebrow at her and she had enough tact to look apologetic.

'Sorry, curiosity.' She explained. Harry nodded his disbelieving gratefulness and turned back to the first topic.

'Do you have the money? I sort of was never given any by the Dursley's, so I won't be able to pay for anything.' He said.

'You are so lucky that I have a very full bank account. I had enough time to take out some muggle money last time I was at home. Like, last summer.' She added. 'I'll pay for you all.'

She walked up to the cashier and asked for the right tickets and walked back over to the others.

'Ocean's 13, 10.00, cinema 3.' She explained, giving them their tickets. 'We still have ten minutes. What do you lot want to do?'

'Lay low?' Harry suggested hopefully. Hermione rolled her eyes at him.

'Only if you're a good little boy and stop annoying me.' She teased. Harry glared at her and they exited the cinema.

'Hey, there is an ice cream parlour next door, why don't we go and get some?' Ginny suggested. They all nodded and headed next door and into the parlour.

'What do you all want; I'll go up and get it.' Harry said. They all told him what flavours they wanted and Harry went up to the front to order.

'Hey, can I have two vanillas, three chocolate and one spearmint, please?' Harry asked the guy at the counter while counting out the money that Hermione had given him to pay.

When he looked up, he saw that he knew the guy at the counter.

'Hey Greg.' He greeted. The boy looked up.

'Hey Harry, I haven't seen you around here for a while. Where have you been?' Greg asked.

'Boarding School.' Harry answered, pulling a face. Greg laughed and handed over the ice creams as Harry gave him the money.

'You might want to watch out Harry; you're cousin was just seen around here a couple of minutes ago; he shouldn't be that far away.' Greg warned in a low voice. Harry's face went grave.

'Thanks, I'll be careful. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a friend to tell off.' Harry said, collecting the ice cream and walking off. He sat down beside Sierra and leaned in over to Hermione.

'I'm going to kill you.' He said. Hermione was rather taken by surprise at this and stared back at him.

'Why?' She asked. She was totally confused.

'It turns out that Dudley has been seen around here just a couple of minutes ago. I'm rather friendly with one of the guys at the counter and he told me about it. Dudley is never seen around town without his stupid goons to back him up and laugh at his dumb jokes.' Harry whispered harshly.

'Well, you have actual friends here to help you if he does come up, and a girlfriend, which I doubt Dudley has. You are higher up than Dudley in this case. He has nothing against you.' Hermione answered in the same low voice that Harry was using. She sat up and started to eat her ice cream and talk with the others. Harry rolled his eyes and joined in the conversation, but all the while kept a wary eye on the door of the parlour.

After 5 minutes, they headed back over to the cinema and went into their theatre. On their way up, Harry noticed something, or someone.

'Shit!' He whispered and hid behind Draco and Hermione. They all looked at him strange for a second before sitting down. Then they noticed a girl look back at the group and they all saw her eyes go wide.

'Harry!' She called out in a whisper. Harry looked up and grinned at the girl. She gave a hesitant grin back before having a quick look at Dudley and his gang before looking back at Harry.

'Dudley's here! Be careful!' She whispered. Harry nodded and bent his head. He pulled the hair in front of his face and put his feet up onto the seat in front of him.

'Who was that?' Sierra asked jealousy thick in her voice; which Harry noticed.

'Don't worry love. She was one of my only friends here in Surrey. She always helped me out with Dudley whenever I had a problem. I haven't seen her in years though. I'm glad she remembered me and warned me. But I did see the bastard before.' Harry explained, slinging an arm around her shoulders. Sierra nodded and curled up into his arms more before giving the girl one last look and turned her attention to the big screen.

'What's going to happen?' Draco asked Hermione, who grinned at him.

'There are going to be pictures coming up onto the screen, in a moving sequence; kind of like our pictures, except these ones have sounds. They will also take up the entire screen.' Hermione explained. Draco nodded absent-mindedly while looking at the screen and faced her.

'Muggles really do think of the strangest things.' He commented. Hermione snorted and started laughing, drawing attention to them from the people sitting a couple of seats in front. Harry, who was sitting next to Hermione as well, clamped a hand over her mouth and shushed her.

'Do you want my cousin to notice me or something?' He asked. Hermione gave him a confused look and took his hand off her mouth.

'He's here?' She asked in amazement. Harry nodded his head and shot a look down to where they were sitting chucking popcorn and lollies at each other.

'Shit! I'm sorry; I didn't know he would be in here! And you picked the movie so you can't pin this entirely on me.' She whispered. Harry rolled his eyes.

'Just be quiet and we can all get out of this alive.' Harry whispered. Hermione nodded and then the theatre went black and the movie started.

After the movie was over, they waited until Dudley and his friends had left before leaving the cinema themselves and heading outside.

'Does anyone need to go to the toilet before we go?' Hermione asked them. They all nodded and Hermione took the girls' into their toilet while Harry led the boys' into theirs.

Upon entering the boys' bathroom, the first thing that Harry heard was the loud voice of his cousin and his friends. Ron noticed it too, having heard the voice before and stopped dead with Harry. Draco gave them both a funny look and kept walking into the bathroom. Harry and Ron exchanged scared looks and ran in after him; only to find him standing up to Dudley.

'Draco! What the hell?' Ron asked, walking up to him and grabbing his arm. 'That's Harry's cousin, we have to get out of here. Now.' Ron muttered. Draco shot Ron a look that plainly said, 'OH MY GOD!' But at that moment, Dudley seemed to remember who Ron was.

'Oi, aren't you part of that freak family that came to our house last year to pick up Potter to go to that funny football match type thing?' Dudley asked. Ron stood up tall, which was at least a couple of centimetres above Dudley himself and looked down at him.

'Yeah, so what if I am? And if you ever call my family freaks again, you will regret it.' Ron all but hissed.

Harry, who had been hiding in the shadows behind the wall, but decided to come out and face his cousin, because he knew Ron's temper when he got angry. There was this old muggle joke that he knew from school. "How do you anger a re-head? How? Talk to them!" It was said to every red-head in his primary school, and he knew that certain things set Ron right off.

Harry took a deep breath and put on a strong face. He walked out from behind the wall and went to stand beside Ron and Draco.

'Leave him alone "Big D"; you've probably done your fair share of bullying people today. How many 10 year olds this time? 20?' Harry asked. Dudley smirked.

'Well, well, well, look who it is. The disappearing Potter.' Dudley tormented.

'Shut up Dudley.' Harry hissed. Draco and Ron put their hands on Harry's shoulder when they heard the girls outside.

'Harry? Draco? Ron? Come on! We have to get back! Padfoot, Moony and Prongs will be looking for us!' They heard Hermione call.

'Shit.' Harry swore under his breathe.

'Who's that Potter, your girlfriend?' Dudley taunted. Draco stiffened.

'No, she's mine.' He replied, his voice full to the brim with anger.

'I bet, Potter couldn't get a girlfriend without having to pay a whore.' Dudley spat. At this, Harry cracked. The punch he threw at Dudley must have broken his nose because Harry and his friends heard a sickening crack and Dudley fell to the ground. Harry bent down and grabbed a fist full of the front of Dudley's shirt. He put his face so close to Dudley's so that the vulnerable boy could see the fire in his eyes.

'If you ever speak like that about Sierra again, I swear I will cast any number of illegal curses on you that even most of Voldemorts Death Eaters would never even think about using on people they have their worst grudges against.' Harry whispered menacingly in his face. Dudley nodded quickly and Harry let go of him, letting his head hit the floor. Harry got up and brushed himself off before turning around and walking out. Draco and Ron exchanged looks before following him out.

'Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, have you ever actually punched him before, or is it just because he called Sierra a whore? I must admit, I was ten seconds off doing that myself, but damn, I didn't know you had that much strength in you.' Draco said, nearly having to run to keep up with him.

'If he even dares to try and touch her I'll kill him.' Harry said menacingly. Ron braced his shoulder and turned him around, grabbing both his shoulders and not letting go.

'No you wouldn't, you don't have it in you to kill Harry. Voldemort is the exception because you have to kill him or he will kill you. But you won't kill a member of your own family, no matter how much you hate them. You're no murderer Harry.' Ron said seriously. Harry just looked at him then off over his shoulder.

'Then I'll make sure he's bashed to a pulp.' Harry said, before wrenching himself out of Ron's grasp and walked over to where he could see the girls over at the door.

Behind him, he could hear Draco and Ron following him and Dudley's group trying to help him out of the toilets without anyone noticing his broken and bleeding nose.

The girls were staring behind them at Dudley and his gang when they noticed how stiff Harry was and how pale Draco and Ron seemed to be. They all rushed over at once and Sierra immediately looked at Harry's right hand, which had drops of blood on it. She looked up at him with wide eyes and he just took her into his arms and hugged her tight.

Hermione hugged Draco and turned to face Harry while still in his arms.

'Harry,' she asked gently, 'what happened?'

'We met Dudley in the bathroom and since Draco had no clue who he was Ron went in to stop him from doing something stupid, then, when Dudley remembered Ron from last year when the Weasley's came to pick me up from the World Cup, he started terrorising Ron about his family. Then I stepped out and told him to shut it and back off. That's when we heard you telling us to hurry up because of the adults. He asked if you were my girlfriend, Draco got rather peeved at this and said you were his, and then Dudley said the only girlfriend I could get was a paid whore, so I punched him the nose and told him never to talk about Sierra like that again unless he wants a long, painful death.' Harry explained. The girls all stared at him with wide eyes and then shot a look at Dudley, who was still trying to make his way out of the cinema foyer without being seen dripping blood on the carpet.

Sierra looked up at him and hugged him tighter.

'Oh Harry.' She whispered. Harry held her tight and kissed the top of her head before resting his chin on her crown.

'Come on, let's go home.' Hermione said. They nodded and walked out passed Dudley and his friends.

'Hold on, there's something I want to do.' Harry said. He pulled Sierra by the hand to a stop and dipped her into a passionate kiss. Dudley and his friends stood stock still in utter surprise. Harry and Sierra surfaced and flashed Dudley a triumphant look before picking Sierra up again and slinging his arm around her and walked away with all his friends laughing behind him.

They signalled for a taxi and Hermione told him where to go, and they were soon home and walking through the door, laughing their heads off at the look on Dudley's face when Harry snogged Sierra.

They entered the Kitchen and sat down, ready for a snack before dinner was started and they had to enter their rooms to avoid being given any work to do for it.

'Well Hermione, we took what would have been a horrible day in Surrey and made it a brilliant one. One with a cousin with a bleeding nose, who was also embarrassed beyond belief, and we saw an awesome movie. I think we are going well.' Harry said. They laughed again and James, Sirius and Remus entered the Kitchen.

'How was your little outing?' James asked, sitting beside Harry and opposite where Sirius chose to sit beside Remus.

'Pretty good if I say so myself; considering I wasn't overly happy about going.' Harry conceded. James grinned at him.

'What made it that great then?' He asked.

'Well, Dudley got a blood nose, that's my cousin, just in case you didn't know; and he lives in Surrey, that's why I didn't want to go in the first place, you ate ice cream and watched a brilliant movie. How much better could a day get?' Harry asked.

'Why did Dudley get a blood nose?' Remus questioned, raising an eyebrow suspiciously. Harry at least had the audacity to look at least a little remorseful.

'He made a crack about Sierra being a prostitute to go anywhere near me, well, it was more like he didn't think that any girl would go out with me except for prostitutes, but it was like he made a crack about her, so I punched him a threatened him a little. It was funny when I kissed her though and he just stared at me like a stunned mullet.' Harry grinned. James ruffled his hair and Sirius laughed. Remus didn't look too impressed though.

'He really said that?' He asked seriously. Harry's smile left his mouth and he nodded.

'I think it's about time we had another talk with the Dursleys,' Remus said, 'Are you two up for it?' Sirius and James nodded enthusiastically. But then James grew thoughtful.

'Aren't I supposed to be dead to them though?' He asked confusedly. That's when Remus finally grinned.

'I think it's about time we told them.' He said. Then they all heard Molly come into the hall and they all jumped up and started to walk out of the door. They just passed her in the hall when she called out to them.

'Can any of you help with dinner tonight?'

'Sorry, we have to clean out our trunks Mrs. Weasley. Get them ready for tomorrow, you know.' Hermione called out behind them as they mounted the stairs.

'What about you three?' She asked the older men. Sirius turned around slowly.

'Molly, we have to talk with the Dursley's about some things that have been happening. Don't wait up for us, we'll be there to see you lot off tomorrow, bye!' The three men raced up stairs and grabbed their cloaks before coming back down waving goodbye to everyone and walking out the door. Draco, Harry, Hermione and the rest just glared at them as they left and went up the stairs to get away from Molly Weasley.

Dinner came around soon and again they filed down the stairs.

'Hurry up you lot!' Mrs. Weasley yelled.

'We're coming Mum!' Ron yelled back. 'Bloody woman.' He added. They snorted in laughter and hurried down to the Kitchen.

'There you are! You couldn't have come quicker could you?' Mrs. Weasley chastised. Ron and Ginny rolled their eyes and sat down with the others.

'Sorry we took so long, Mother, we were busy.' Ron said. Mrs. Weasley gave them a funny look and started ladling out the soup that was for dinner.

'What type of soup is it Mrs. Weasley?' Harry asked.

'It's Chicken and Corn.' She answered, giving him some. It smelled beautiful.

'It smells delicious Mrs. Weasley.' Hermione complimented. The older woman smiled warmly at her in response and continued what she was doing. As she was pouring the soup into the bowls, Fred and George waltzed into the room.

'How is everyone?' Fred asked. They grunted in response and Fred and George shook their heads.

'Not a very happy bunch of people here are there George?' Fred asked his twin brother.

'Not very happy at all Fred.' George answered him. They took their seats at the end of the table beside their parents and started digging into their soup. It was gone within one minute.

'Got any more soup mum?' Fred asked innocently.

'Plenty; go get some from the stove.' Mrs. Weasley answered. The twins both got up and served themselves some more while everyone else started (or finished) their firsts.

'I can't believe that it's the last day of the holidays.' Hermione commented.

'I know. I would have liked it for them to be longer.' Draco added. They all sighed in resignation.

'What do you plan to do with your life Hermione?' Harry asked. Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment.

'Well, I thought about Mediwizardry, but I don't think I'll be able to stand the sight of all those diseases and everything like that. I really don't know what I want to do. It could be anything so far.' She answered.

'How about you Draco?' Harry asked the blonde. Draco took even longer before answering.

'I think I want to be an Auror. That life sounds exciting enough. But most of all I just want a normal life. Well, normal enough for a wizard of my family name. I'm not trying to be big-headed or anything, but the Malfoy name is pretty high up in stature.' Draco said, raising his hands in innocence while the others laughed at his comment. 'I really just want a family. You know, some people to actually care about, that I'm related to that I actually like.' Draco added.

'How about you Harry; you must have some aspiration in life other than destroying the Dark Lord.' Draco pointed out.

'To tell you the truth, I haven't really thought that far ahead. I know that I want to live to see after the war, but I don't know what I want to happen after it.' Harry answered.

'You have no idea at all?' Sierra asked him. Harry could see the slight disappointment in her eyes and took her hand.

'Whatever I do, you'll be part of it.' Harry whispered to her. This made her smile really big and she gave him a rather awkward hug since they were at the table and sitting side-by-side. The rest of dinner was eaten in silence, until Mrs. Weasley announced that they had to go to bed.

'You have to get up early to get ready on time for the train.' She explained. They all trudged upstairs and bade each other a tired good night, but Draco held Hermione back.

'Hermione, wait a second.' He said, taking her hand and pulling her into a hug. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tight.

'What is it Draco?' She asked. Draco sighed into her neck and pulled away from her just enough to be able to rest his forehead against hers.

'Whatever I do after this war is over and I have a free life, will have you in it. I couldn't stand it if you weren't part of my life from here on out.' Draco whispered to her. Hermione smiled up at him and gave him a tender kiss on the lips.

'I couldn't imagine my life without you being part of it either.' She answered just as quietly. Draco smiled at her too and pulled her close again.

'We'll get married and have little kids running all over the house and we'll take them to their first day at Hogwarts and we'll love them. I want all of this with you and only you.' Draco whispered. Hermione could feel the tears running down her face and onto his shirt.

'You mean it?' She asked through her tears. Draco took her face in his hands and wiped away all of her tears.

'Of course Love. I've never been more sincere.' He whispered. Hermione gave him a watery smile and kissed him tenderly on the lips. Draco responded with such gentleness that Hermione though that she was going to melt.

As Hermione broke the kiss, she stared up at him lovingly.

'I love you Draco.' She said.

'I love you too, my dearest Hermione.' He whispered back. He kissed her one last time before giving her a huge hug and let her go.

'Let's go to bed Love. I'll see you in the morning.' He whispered down to her. She nodded back to him and gave him a quick peck before turning and going into her bedroom and closing the door.

A/N: Now it is time to thank everyone who reviewed. Remember, if you want your name here, you have to review or do something of that sort. Thanks!

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Sarah xo.


	18. Chapter Eighteen

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry you had to wait so long for the chapter, but I found it kind of hard to write and get all the right moods and stuff of the characters. Anyway, this chapter is dedicated to luckystar125, because she wanted a chapter where the Marauders went to see the Dursley's!!

Disclaimer: Don't own! Don't sue! (I think that's how you spell it looks worried)

After they had run off on Mrs. Weasley, the three men apparated straight to the Dursley's household to see them through the window on the front of the house eating dinner.

They all smirked at each other and walked to the front of the house. Sirius knocked on the front door and stepped back to stand between his two friends. They heard the scraping of chairs and words that sounded like muttering through the wood of the door. Next thing they knew, the door was opened and they were face to face with Vernon Dursley. James inwardly smirked and Remus stepped forward.

'Vernon Dursley?' He asked. Vernon nodded hesitantly and gave them all weary looks. Sirius and James exchanged amused looks and turned back to Vernon.

'I'm Remus Lupin, and they are Sirius Black and James Potter. We are here to discuss how you have been treating a certain Harry James Potter.' Remus said with absolute seriousness in his voice. Vernon turned deathly pale.

'James Potter? He's dead,' he said in a small voice. 'And what do you want to know about the boy?' Vernon eyed them suspiciously.

'We want to know how you have been treating Harry. He came home today and told us that he was being mistreated by Dudley. We want the truth; how have you been treating Harry?' Sirius asked.

Vernon looked around the street and noticed a few people staring out of windows.

'Come inside.' He demanded, holding the door open for them and stepping aside to allow them to walk through. The three men entered the house and went into the living room, where they saw in the other room, Petunia and Dudley sitting at the dining table and watching them through scared eyes.

James saw on Petunia's face the look of utter shock and horror as she laid her eyes on him. James smirked and sat down on the couch, propping his feet up on the coffee table and putting his hands behind his head, leaning back against the couch. Sirius followed his lead and did the same, while Remus was ever polite and did nothing of the sort.

Vernon reappeared in the room and sat on the opposite chair to them. He glared evilly at the two men with their feet up on the coffee table before he noticed that Petunia had entered the room. She sat down beside him and shot him a look.

'I would appreciate it if you didn't put your feet on the coffee table.' Vernon spoke in very clipped tones, but Sirius and James groaned as they put their feet down again and onto the floor. Remus eyed them and looked back at Petunia and Vernon.

'As I said before, we've come to talk to you about how you have been treating Harry.' He said. The Dursley's shifted uncomfortably and wouldn't look them in the eye.

'My son came home from the movies in Surrey yesterday to report that he had encountered Dudley in the bathrooms and Dudley and his "gang", as he would like me to put it, rough-housed them and teased one of Harry's friends' family, called Harry's girlfriend a prostitute and generally annoyed the hell out of them. Let's just say as Harry's guardians, that we are not pleased.' James said, leaning forward on the chair and fixed them with a piercing gaze, which they fidgeted under.

'I have been receiving letters from Harry every year since he was thirteen and none of them say that you have been particularly pleasant over the years. In fact, he looks forward to the times when you aren't in the house so he can eat, relax, drink, not be yelled at and do basically what he wants, for however short a time that is. Then, he told me that the reason he had good reflexes is because he is so used to ducking Dudley's hits with his cane from his school and your cuffs over the back of the head,' Sirius directed at Vernon. 'Now, can you honestly tell us that you have been treating Harry with respect you would your own son?'

'The boy deserves it!' Vernon defended.

'Harry deserves respect! If you went through the stuff that he has been through you wouldn't have survived! The only reason why Harry went to you is because Sirius was in prison at the time and him living with muggles would have helped him and kept him away from the immense fame he has in our world. Can you honestly expect us to want to put him through that when he was one?' James argued in the offence. Neither of the Dursley's looked at him, but kept their eyes to the floor.

'Look, Lily loved you Petunia, she still does if she's alive. I haven't found her yet, but when I do, the first thing I am telling her is how her sister treated her son while she couldn't. Harry didn't get a childhood like most kids do. He spent his fighting off your son, snakes, defeating Dark Lord's, doing stuff that normal kids shouldn't have to do, and you people didn't help him in the slightest like we thought and wanted you to do. Instead, you abused him, punished him for performing magic when he had no control over it and forced him to go for days without food. All because he was our son and we were magic and none of you liked us. Well, I have news for you, if I ever hear of you or your fat-ass son out there, bullying or abusing _my_ son, there will be hell to pay.' James said with deathly venom at the end of his voice.

Petunia and Vernon nodded; they both had wide eyes and were deathly pale.

'What do you mean if Lily's still alive? She died to save the boy didn't she?' Petunia asked in a small voice. James' eyes clouded over swiftly and he wouldn't look at them.

'Lily didn't die that night like I thought she did. It was my mother that died instead. But I didn't know this until she had already died. I pulled her from out underneath the rubble of the house and found out who it was. I never found Lily afterwards.' He told them. It was deathly silent as the Dursley's processed everything that had been said.

'So, now we are over with that,' James perked up a bit, but still didn't look at all pleased with these people that Lily had called family. 'I would like to inform you that Harry will now be taken out of your custody and I doubt that I will ever let you see him again. Good day.' James stood up and brushed off his robes, looked at Remus and Sirius, the latter looked rather hurt that they were leaving already and no injuries had been made to the accused Dursley's, but got up anyway and Remus followed suit.

James gave them a nod, his eyes steely, hard and cold, and swept from the room, his friends following him.

When they left the house and had apparated away, Sirius and James bent over double in laughter.

'Did you see the looks on their faces?' Sirius got out as he laughed. James nodded and because he was laughing so much, tears started flowing down his face.

'Absolutely priceless.' James burst out. Remus just looked at his friends with a slight smile and shake of his head.

'You two are so immature.' He muttered. Luckily neither of them heard him.

'Really, I should have thought that we could have inflicted some sort of physical pain onto them.' Sirius whined, after catching his breathe of course. James and Remus rolled their eyes and James looked at Sirius with exasperation.

'If you want to go back to Azkaban, then sure, go back and curse them, but as no one actually knows that I live, then I think I will pass.' James said sarcastically.

'Fine, only because Azkaban is a foul place.' Sirius said with distaste.

'Good boy.' James said, patting Sirius' head and walking into No. 12 Grimmauld Place with his friends followed him.

A/N: Thanks again to all the people who reviewed!

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	19. Chapter Nineteen

**A/N: Here we go! Another chapter written! I would have had this up a couple of days ago, but my evil sister wouldn't let me use the computer, and the laptop doesn't have the internet yet, so I had to wait. Please don't kill me! Also, I've been in a production since last week, and I haven't been getting home until 1, maybe 2 AM!! in the morning. And I mean, not coming home at all, until that time. I have been thoroughly exhausted. **

**Disclaimer!! I own nothing about this story! I'm not sure that I even own the plot! I just like bending J. K. Rowlings characters to do my every whim! **

**Chapter**** 19**

The next morning couldn't have been more hectic. Mrs. Weasley was up at the crack of dawn, waking everyone up and trying to get them ready. She was in the Kitchen when the rest of the kids came down, all bleary eyed and almost falling asleep in their porridge.

'Morning Love.' Draco muttered to Hermione, giving her a kiss on the forehead and wrapping her in a huge hug.

'Morning.' Hermione muttered back and rubbed her head into his bed shirt (they were all in their bed clothes still).

They all sat down and started to dig into their breakfast, before Sirius, Remus and James came down the stairs.

'What are you all doing up so early?' James asked.

'This is normal. Molly gets them all up early to get to the train station on time.' Sirius answered. James groaned.

'Did you have to wake us up too?' He grumbled.

'You could have stayed in bed.' Mrs. Weasley mumbled.

'That would have been a lot easier if this lot didn't make so much noise.' He answered back. As he walked past Harry, though, he ruffled his hair and grabbed his breakfast.

'Well, Remus needed to get up anyway.' Mrs. Weasley argued. Remus just grunted and ate his meal.

'Hurry now everyone! You all still need to get dressed!' Mrs. Weasley cried. They all ate breakfast as quickly as they could and ran back up to their bedrooms to go get dressed for the ride to Hogwarts.

Soon, they were all traipsing downstairs with their trunks, fully dressed, but still somewhat sleepy from getting up so early.

'Hey mum? How are we getting to the train station this year?' Ron asked his mother as they stood out on the curb.

'Arthur managed to wrangle us some Ministry cars to protect Harry. We all know that You-Know-Who is on the loose.' Mrs. Weasley explained. Harry rolled his eyes and sighed.

'Cool! Ministry cars!' Ginny said. Just then, Sirius and Remus walked out of the house, with the door closing by itself behind them.

'We'll see you guys later. I'm taking the Floo into the school once I'm completely ready to go. I'll see you all there. You are in for an exciting year.' Remus said.

'Why?' Harry asked cautiously.

'No reason.' Remus evaded. Harry looked at him with suspicious eyes for a moment, but soon let it go and decided to wait.

'Where is Prongs?' Harry asked instead, then he felt someone envelope him in a hug, which he returned with some hesitance.

'I'll miss you son. Come home over the holidays and we can start moving our stuff into Potter Manor.' He heard James whisper into his ear.

'Of course I will. I wouldn't miss it for the world. It's great to have you back dad.' Harry whispered back at the invisible man holding him.

'See you over the holidays. I might even let the world know that I live soon. So watch out for the newspapers.' James said before letting go of his son and holding him at arms length; not that Harry could tell though.

James gave a final nod before stepping back and patting Sirius on the arm. Sirius went up and gave Harry a huge hug before turning to Draco and giving him one too.

'Behave yourselves you lot. I might be making a couple of trips to Hogwarts this year to see old Moony here, but I won't be around as often as before. Harry, keep yourself out of trouble. I know it's hard for you, and I know that trouble usually finds you instead, but I don't care, try and keep yourself safe. Draco, don't stay with Hermione too much, if you know what I mean. You can still love each other without being physical. I'll see you all when you get back for Christmas.' Sirius said to everyone. Then he gave everyone their hugs and waved them goodbye as the Ministry cars pulled up and they put their bags piled into the enchanted boot, then clambered in the car. They all waved good bye to the three men (though one was still invisible) as they drove away.

'I can't wait to get back to Hogwarts.' Hermione gushed, bouncing up and down on her seat. Draco rolled his eyes and wrapped his arms around her.

'At least there aren't any major tests like OWLs or NEWTs this year.' He muttered. Hermione glared at him and slapped him on the shoulder.

'Hey! That hurt!' Draco whimpered, holding his arm and glowering at her.

'You deserved it! Exams and tests are important. Do you want to do anything with your life?' She asked. Draco looked hurt.

'Of course I do! I want to marry you, love you, grow old with you, and father your children...' Draco trailed off, realising that everyone in the car was looking at him.

'What? That's what I want to do!' He cried. He had yet to mention to Hermione about the letter his mother had sent him. He knew he would have to do it at some time, but just not now.

'Yes, you might want to, but we don't want to know about it.' Harry pointed out. Draco gave him a look and just rested his head on Hermione's shoulder.

'I wonder what it's going to be like this year.' Ginny said, resting her head on the back of the seat and sighed.

'Hopefully a good one.' Harry answered to the murmured agreements of the other people in the car.

'I hope that the homework isn't that hard.' Ron said. Harry and Draco laughingly agreed and Hermione rolled her eyes.

'It will be harder than last year Ron. If you haven't noticed, homework gets harder every year. Shocker.' Hermione said sarcastically. Ron shot Hermione a playful look. They all laughed at Hermione's sarcastic answer and gave Ron a hard time about it. Then Harry changed the subject.

'How do you think Prongs is going to go throughout the year without everyone in the house all the time?' He announced.

'He'll probably be fine with only Sirius. Those two are will have an amazing time together.' Sierra reassured him.

'I hope so. I hate leaving him there.' Harry explained, more to himself than to the others.

'Don't worry Harry. You'll see him again soon enough. What's the bet he will sneak into the school to see you when Sirius visits?' Hermione commented. They laughed at this, knowing full well that James would do just that, if it meant seeing his son again.

'What about Hogsmeade weekends? You could still probably see him at that place where we used to see Sirius when he was in hiding in Fourth year.' Ron suggested.

'Maybe. I don't know. I don't want to risk him getting caught and then having to run away from paparazzi the entire time that we are together.' Harry stated.

'That's true. That wouldn't be a very happy reunion.' Hermione agreed.

'Exactly!' Harry exclaimed. They all sat thoughtfully for a while before Ron spoke up.

'I wonder how angry Pansy is going to be because we didn't see each other over the holidays.' Ron pondered aloud to himself.

'Probably really angry.' Sierra answered. 'I know Pansy, probably more than you. She would be really upset.' She told Ron.

'Brilliant, just bloody brilliant.' Ron sighed, leaning back against the chair and took a deep breath.

'Why don't you buy her some food or something on the train? Do something nice for her. That might make things better.' Hermione suggested.

'Maybe, but I don't get it. I just had no time over the holidays. I thought the letters would have been enough.'

'Didn't you promise her just before we left that you would see her at least once?' Ginny asked.

'Yeah, I did. Damn it! I am such a screw up!' He exclaimed, crashing his fists onto the chair on either side of him and grumbled to himself.

'Ron, calm down. Maybe it won't be that bad. Maybe she won't entirely kill you. After all, if she wants a good snog she won't.' Ginny reassured. Ron rolled his eyes.

'I want more from her than just a good snog. I want to know if she actually loves me, or even just likes me. Because I know I love her.' Ron explained.

'Awww.' Hermione, Sierra and Ginny cooed. Harry and Draco rolled their eyes and shook their heads. Girls were so predictable.

'Do you really love her Ron?' Sierra asked.

'Yes. But don't tell her. I want to do that. Next time I see her.' He answered.

'Ron that's sweet. And here I was thinking that you didn't possess any of that.' Ginny teased.

'Haha Gin. You really don't know much about me do you?' Ron asked.

'No, I try not to immerse myself into the long and complicated life of Ronald Weasley.' Ginny answered.

'No, she prefers to immerse herself in her daydreams about Blaise.' Draco teased. Ginny glared at him.

'I do not.' She answered huffily.

'Yeah right. Gin, you might not notice, but sometimes you zone out while staring at him. To put it mildly, the boy is now rather careful around you.' Draco told her.

'I do?' She asked, eyes wide and skin as a sheet.

'Yeah, you do.' Draco answered, with the nodded agreements of everyone else that was in the car.

'I totally didn't mean that! I can't believe it! He probably thinks that I'm such a freak!' Ginny cried into her hands.

'Oh Gin, everything will be fine! Don't worry about it!' Hermione cried, sitting down next to the younger girl and wrapping her arms around her and rubbing her back gently. Hermione sent a glare in Draco's direction and went back to comforting Ginny. Sierra joined in the effort and Draco, Harry and Ron were all left stunned.

'And this is our fault how?' Draco whispered to them.

'No idea.' They mouthed back, shaking their heads and leaning back against the seat.

After about ten minutes, Ginny had calmed down and Hermione was once again sitting down beside Draco. The minute she had sat down, Draco had wrapped his arms around her and kissed the side of her head.

'You aren't angry with me are you?' He whispered to her. Hermione turned to him.

'No, but you could have not said that she kept looking like an idiot in front of him. That wasn't very nice you know.' She chastised.

'Sorry, but I was only telling the truth. She needed to know so that she would stop.' Draco answered, kissing her neck.

'Fine. No, I'm not angry at you, just, try and be a little more sensitive when telling her stuff like that.' Hermione advised.

'Point taken. Thanks love.' Draco whispered, and then rested his head on her shoulder, where it stayed for the rest of the trip.

-

When they arrived at the train station, they climbed out of the car, pulling their cages or whatnot with them for their animals, and pulled their trunks out of the back of the car. They loaded their trunks onto the available trolleys and rolled them over to where they waited for the others from the other car to follow.

When everyone arrived, they took it in turns to travel through the archway at Platforms 9 and 10.

Draco and Hermione went first, looking as though nothing was the matter and chatting amicably between themselves, before leaning through the archway, where Sierra, Ginny, Ron and Harry soon took their places and fazed through the wall themselves. Fred and George followed them in, and then Mrs. Weasley made her way through.

'Hurry up then everyone! Get yourselves set up on the train and I will see you all at Christmas.' She announced, before taking her children into big hugs and then hugging Harry, Hermione, Sierra and Draco.

'Don't get into too much trouble you lot! I don't think any of your parents want to hear about you getting too many detentions or something like that.' Mrs. Weasley lectured.

'Mrs. Weasley, do we ever get into that much trouble?' Harry asked with an innocent smile on his face. The others laughed and boarded the train with their trunks.

'See you Mrs. Weasley!' They yelled out of the windows.

'Well, it was nice to spend the holidays with you all, but now we must leave you and go find Lee, we have some excellent things to tell him.' Fred told them, rubbing his hands together.

'Sure, see you guys later.' Ron muttered as he attempted to drag his trunk onto the train after prying out of his mothers' grip.

'See you.' They answered and went on their way to find their best friend.

'Let's go find a compartment.' Draco suggested.

'Yes, let's. Hermione agreed and they made their way down the corridor and found a compartment that would fit all of them, their luggage and their animals, that wasn't occupied.

They moved everything in and took their seats around the compartment. Then Ron noticed something.

'What are you doing here Gin? Don't you have your own friends to go talk to? You know, catch up with?' Ron asked, clearly insisting that she leaved.

'Well, there is a reason why I am here.' Ginny said, hesitantly. Then, that reason just happened to be walking through the door with an annoyed Pansy walking in right behind him.

'Hey Blaise, Pansy.' They greeted and Ginny turned a brilliant shade of red, one to rival her hair colour, and looed out of the window.

'Hey guys. How was your summer?' Blaise asked. Conveniently, his seat was right next to Ginny, who was very conscious of the fact that he was there.

Pansy immediately walked over and sat next to Ron, burying her face in his shirt.

'Why didn't you see me over the summer?' She asked him.

'I was busy love. And mum wouldn't let anyone come over to the house other than the people that lived there. Trust me; I felt a bit like a fifth wheel. Harry and Sierra and Draco and Hermione. Would you like to live with that?' He asked her.

'I really missed you.' She muttered.

'I missed you too.' Ron said back. By this time most of the people in the compartment were listening to what they were saying and wondering whether Ron was actually going to tell her.

'I want to tell you something.' He muttered to her, not even noticing that everyone was silently listening.

'What?' She looked up curiously at him. Just as oblivious to the others as he was.

'I love you.' He whispered. She looked at him with shock before a look of pure delight covered her face.

'I love you too!' She squealed and covered her mouth with his as everyone turned to them and cooed things to them.

'AWWWWW!!' The girls squealed.

'Finally.' Harry and Draco muttered.

Blaise just smiled. He put his hand on the chair beside his leg and it landed half on Ginny's.

Both blushed profusely and muttered apologies before turning away from each other and keeping their hands in their laps.

Hermione smiled to herself. These two might not be so hard to get together as she thought that they would be, but then again, they were both very stubborn. Hermione showed Draco what she had seen and he smirked that famous Malfoy smirk that made Hermione weak at the knees. Draco nodded and fixed both Blaise and Ginny in a mile wide grin. They shot him concerned looks and turned back to continue talking to each other.

Hermione hit Draco playfully on the shoulder and leaned back against him. Draco wrapped his arms around her tightly and kissed her neck cheekily. Hermione grinned at him and cuddled him tighter.

'Would you two stop it, you're making me want to puke.' Ginny commented pulling a face at them. Hermione stuck her tongue out childishly at Ginny and Draco laughed.

'Just because you can't get the guy you want, Gin, doesn't mean we can't have fun with the people we already have.' Draco shot back. Ginny glared at him menacingly and all they people in the cabin 'ooh'ed and then burst out laughing, well, all except for Blaise, who was blushing bright red and didn't look at Ginny. Ginny just continued glaring, not noticing anything what was going on with Blaise.

'Hey, when do you think the lunch trolley will come around? I'm hungry.' Harry commented, brows furrowed.

'Don't worry love; I'm sure it'll come around soon.' Sierra said, patting his stomach. She gave him a gentle kiss on the lips and settled back into his embrace. Harry grinned at her and hugged her tight.

Just as this happened, the door to the compartment opened and the Lady with the Lunch Trolley came in.

'Anything from the trolley, dears?' She asked kindly and the whole of the compartment roared with laughter, making the Lady look rather affronted.

'Sorry, we didn't mean to offend you, but we were just talking about when you were coming around when you opened the door.' Hermione explained. At this, the Lunch Lady herself chuckled with them. They bought their lunch and a few snacks and went back to talking amongst themselves, until it came time for them to pack up the compartment and get ready to get off the train.

When they reached the Hogsmeade platform, they got out of the train and Harry, Hermione and Draco left their stuff with the others to take up to the school while they performed their prefect duties.

'Hurry up! Come on! Over this way First Years! Walk towards the man with the lantern!' Hermione cried over all the hustle and bustle of the crowds and all other people that were walking up to get the carriages.

Harry and Draco were on either ends of the Platform and were directing the frightened first years over to were Hagrid was standing over near the road were the older students were walking.

'Firs' years! Firs' years, over 'ere don' be shy!' Hagrid called out in that booming voice of his. He was close to Hermione now and she turned to smile and wave at the half-giant.

'Hagrid! Over here!' Hermione called waving like mad.

''Ello there 'ermione! 'Ow are ya?' He asked as he made his way over to her.

'I'm fine Hagrid, how are you?' She called back.

'I'm alrigh'. 'Ow are 'Arry and Ron doing?' He asked her.

'Oh, they're fine! We'll make sure to come and see you soon Hagrid! See you!' She yelled as she was swept away by the crowd.

'See you 'Ermione!' Hagrid called back.

After everyone was gone and Harry, Hermione and Draco were the only ones left, they hopped on the last carriage for the night and were transported up to the school, where they walked tiredly into the Great Hall and flopped down onto their seats, just to listen to the boring speech by Dumbledore. Hermione and Harry nearly fell asleep in their seats.

'Welcome students,' Dumbledore said as he stood up and looked at the timid first years waiting to be sorted. 'I will make this short, because our little first years here seem to be incredibly scared. May your new year at Hogwarts be a good one! Now, let us start!'

At the end of the speech, Professor McGonagall stood up and called forward the scared little first years' one at a time to try on the Sorting Hat and get put into their rightful houses.

After they were all done, McGonagall sat back down and Dumbledore stood up again and spread his arms wide.

'Codswallop, Turkey, Cheese!' Dumbledore announced before sitting down. Almost immediately, food appeared magically on the table and you could hear the excited squeals of the first years as they saw all the food before them.

'Can't I just go to bed? I don't think I'll be able to listen to Dumbledore's speech I'm that tired.' Hermione announced, laying her head down on the table. Harry and Ron laughed.

'I'm sure that you'll be in bed soon enough Hermione. Though who's, I'm not too sure about.' Harry commented and had to jolt away as Hermione whipped out viciously at Harry.

'Sorry, I had to comment.' Harry said laughingly. Hermione just glared strongly at him and piled a small amount of food onto her plate.

'Aren't you going to eat any more than that?' Ron asked, just before he put food into his own mouth.

'I'm not that hungry. I'll have a bigger breakfast.' Hermione promised and started to slowly eat what she had on her plate.

'So, what did you all do over the summer?' Seamus turned to ask them.

'Not much. Hung around with Sirius, went to the Muggle Cinemas, ate, slept, talked; the usual things you do on the holidays in the summer.' Harry answered, still eating.

'I went over to Ireland to visit my grandparents, then stayed at home the rest of the time, but Dean came over for a while, but then he had to leave, so it was rather boring.' Seamus explained. They all nodded their consent and went back to eating.

After the feast, Dumbledore stood up and made his announcements, which were the same as any other year and dismissed the students all to bed, which Hermione was entirely grateful for. But before walking off completely, she bid goodnight to Draco and the rest of her Slytherin friends.

She made her way to the Gryffindor common room and up to her dormitories, bidding goodnight to Harry and Ron and as soon as she hit the pillow, she was asleep within seconds.

**A/N: Hello again! Here's to my wonderful reviewers!**

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	20. Chapter Twenty

A/N: Hello! Sorry it has taken so much time to get this chapter out, but I really couldn't think of anything to put in it. Really, I think the only interesting part about this chapter is the thing with Ron at the end and when Draco is in deep thought at the _very_ end. You will see what I mean.

Another reson is that I've been working on another story of mine. I haven't put it up yet, mostly because it doesn't have a name, but I would like to write this one out, then make neccessary changes to it, make sure it makes sense, then put it up chapter at a time. It will take a while. 

Anyway, read and enjoy!

**Chapter 20**

The next morning, Hermione got up at her usual early time and had a shower and did her toilette before getting dressed and heading down stairs to meet Harry and Ron for breakfast.

They made their way down the stairs, talking loudly and laughing excitedly about their new classes.

'So, what do you think that we have to do this year?' Harry asked.

'Complicated stuff?' Ron answered. Hermione and Harry laughed.

'I'm sure Ron. The work only gets harder. I wonder what Snape's going to make us do.' Harry pondered aloud.

'Probably really horrible stuff with really horrible ingredients that will make us want to puke.' Ron muttered.

'Knowing him, probably.' Harry agreed.

'Oh come on, Potions isn't that bad. Ok, Snape is, but what we do isn't.' Hermione defended.

'Consider what you're saying for a second Hermione. This is Potions, awful, horrible, Potions. Even a good teacher wouldn't make Potions worth while.' Harry argued.

'Snape is a good teacher; he just has a rather horrid disposition.' Hermione said.

'Stop defending the man Hermione. He's been a right awful git to us since first year.' Ron spat.

'I know, I didn't say that I liked the man. I just said he was a good teacher. Personally, I hate him. Don't doubt me on this.' Hermione answered reassuringly.

'Fine, but you just keep standing up for him. It isn't right.' Ron complained. Hermione and Harry just rolled their eyes and walked into the Great Hall.

They took their seats and ate in relative silence, while Professor McGonagall handed out their timetables for the year.

'Yes! Lupin and McGonagall before lunch, then after lunch, Flitwick and Sprout. A very good day if I say so myself.' Ron commented. Hermione rolled her eyes.

'Come on, let's just head back to the common room and get our stuff for our first class.' She said, getting up and walking out with the boys trailing behind her.

After getting their stuff, they headed down to Defence against the Dark Arts. They met up with Draco, Pansy and Sierra along the way.

'Hey guys, let's see your timetables for this year.' Hermione said, looking over Draco's shoulder at the timetable he held in his hands.

'You have the same classes as us. Brilliant.' Hermione smiled up at him and kissed his cheek, before starting to walk off with Sierra and Pansy to get to Defence against the Dark Arts.

Draco followed after her with Harry, Ron and Blaise as they too entered the classroom just after the girls.

Professor Lupin was still teaching Defence, so they sat at the front and started to talk to him.

'Hey Professor, how are you?' Harry asked, as he sat down.

'Pretty good Harry. Prongs wanted me to give you something too.' Lupin handed Harry an envelope and Harry quickly stashed it in his cloak to read later.

'Thanks. So, how are Sirius and the others?' Harry asked. Lupin smiled.

'They aren't bad. Molly is worrying herself stupid over our latest addition, but he wants none of it. He just wants time to look for Evans. He hasn't had time so far because of going to see the Dursleys and looking after and spending time with you as much he could before you left for school. Molly doesn't want him leaving the house until everyone already knows about him. But he just wants to find information.

'Sirius is helping him as much as possible, and apparently neither has had much sleep so far. Don't worry about it too much though. And don't bring it up around them. The man wants to keep it a secret. I didn't tell you anything.' Lupin reported. Harry smirked and waited as the rest of the class began to settle down.

'Okay, okay. Welcome everyone to sixth year Defence against the Dark Arts. This year, we will learn about a range of creatures, more advances curses, counter-curses and stuff like that. Okay, take out your books and turn to page 10 to learn about the Blood Spilling Curse.'

Everyone obliged and they started to read to themselves about the horrid curse. When they had all finished, they started to talk about what the effects were, the incantation and other facts about it.

'Alright class, I want two scrolls of parchment about the Blood-Spilling Curse by next class. All the information you need is in the text book. It shouldn't be too hard. But if you are having difficulties, see me before then.' Lupin advised, just as the bell went. They packed up what equipment they had and walked outside for break.

'So, where do you want to go?' Draco asked as they meandered around.

'How about down to the lawns by the lake?' Harry suggested. 'That's always a nice place, and we'll still be able to hear the bell.' They nodded in agreement and made their way down to the lake.

'We've already got homework, and from Lupin too! To think, we spent an entire two months with him and he's setting us the same amount of homework that Snape does. How is this fair?' Ron complained.

'Give it up Ronald. I've explained to you before that the work load is only going to get bigger and is only going to get harder. Have I not?' Hermione asked. Ron nodded and sighed.

'But it's the first day back! We shouldn't have homework yet!' Ron exclaimed.

'Just be glad that we haven't had potions yet, Snape will give us double.' Harry said, shuddering. They all groaned in agreement.

'What Lupin gave us isn't that hard though. Even you should be able to finish it. Ron.' Hermione teased. They all laughed and Ron flushed a rather red colour.

'Shut up you.' Ron said, pushing her gently in a teasing type manner.

Hermione lay down in the grass and sighed contently with her hands behind her head. She saw Draco loom over her, smiling down at her gently.

'What's up you?' He asked. Hermione laughed lightly.

'Your face.' She answered, earning her a playful glare and a flick on the shoulder.

'You seem happier now.' He mentioned, gently pushing some hair off of her face. Hermione just smiled at him.

'I'm glad to be back at school. The holidays were getting kind of boring.' She admitted.

'I know. There wasn't really much to do. Was there?' Draco asked.

'Nope; nothing much at all.' Hermione sighed. 'At least there aren't any exams this year.'

'Yeah; that I am completely glad about. No crazy psycho girlfriend. Best thing ever.' Draco teased, earning himself a glare and a hit on the shoulder.

'Be quiet you. I am not crazy or psycho.' Hermione muttered. Draco kissed her forehead.

'You are when it comes to exams though, love.' He murmured. 'I still love you though.' He grinned down at her and she hit his arm.

'I love you too.' Just as she finished talking, the bell for her next class sounded. They all got up, collected their books off the ground and headed for Transfiguration.

At the classroom, they found everyone still waiting outside for McGonagall. She turned up after a couple of minutes and had them enter the classroom.

'Good morning class. Today we will be doing animal transformations into other animals. Miss Malfoy, please hand out the bird cages.' While McGonagall had her back turned, Sierra put on a look of disgust that made Harry and the others want to burst out laughing, but they had to cover it with coughs.

'Please don't make faces behind my back, Miss. Malfoy. They could get you into a lot of trouble.' Professor McGonagall said as she wrote up on the board the incantation and hand and wrist movements used for it.

'Sorry Professor.' She said, wincing. Sierra picked up the cages and walked around the room, handing them out to everyone in the class.

'Here you go.' She muttered to Harry, passing him the last cage.

'Thanks.' He said back to her, taking her hand under the table.

'Now, class, we are going to study the hand movements of such a spell. Follow me.' McGonagall did a couple of brisk hand movements while saying the incantation. They all tried to copy; but once again, only Hermione was the one to get it perfect.

'Well done Miss Granger. Try practicing the incantation too now.' Professor McGonagall instructed. Hermione tried; the incantation was rather difficult to say, but she soon got the hang of saying it by the end of class.

By the end of transfiguration, only Draco, Hermione and Harry had been able to get the hand and wrist movements' right and only Hermione could say the incantation. Draco came up to her at the end of class.

'You know, I'm going to need some extra tutoring if I'm going to get it right.' Draco whispered seductively into her ear, while holding her hips.

'I'm sure you will.' Hermione said, smiling up at him. Draco spun her around to face him again because she had just started to walk away.

'Please?' He begged, looking down at her and holding her.

'Fine.' Hermione answered, rolling her eyes and kissing his cheek. But her cheeky boyfriend turned his head and captured her lips in a hot kiss. He pulled her flush against him and snogged her thoroughly.

Hermione pulled away after a while and smiled at him.

'I said okay. I'll "help" you.' Hermione said. Draco didn't actually expect her to agree with what he was insinuating.

'Meet me in the Room of Requirement after dinner.' He whispered, then turned and walked down to the Slytherin Dungeons to get his stuff for classes after lunch.

Hermione headed back to her dorm and changed over her books before making her way down to the Great Hall with Harry, Ron and Ginny.

'Oh, guys don't expect me back tonight. Or, at least, until rather early in the morning. Oh, and Harry, can I please borrow your Invisibility cloak?' Hermione asked eagerly.

Harry looked at her suspiciously.

'Will I get it back _without_ stains?' Harry asked. Hermione glared at him.

'Yes Harry.' Hermione answered.

'Fine. But get it back to me bu tomorrow morning. Preferably before breakfast.' Harry said.

'Thank you Harry!' Hermione said, hugging him tightly.

'That's alright. Just don't get caught.' Harry said. 'Oh, and have fun.' Harry smirked at her. Hermione stuck her tongue out at the boy as they entered the Great Hall.

They sat down at the Gryffindor table when Hermione felt something hit the back of her head.

On the floor behind her, she saw a piece of paper folded into a paper aeroplane. She picked it up and opened it.

_Can't wait until tonight. DM._

Hermione grinned to herself. She turned to look at the Slytherin table and she caught eyes with Draco. He winked at her and looked back down at her food. Hermione smiled and tucked a piece of hair back behind her ear. She took out her quill and ink and wrote back.

_You just want to get laid. HG_

She took out her wand and charmed it to fly back over to him. She watched him while he opened it and laughed, earning very weird looks from the Slytherins at the table.

She saw him write back to her hastily because Snape was just about to walk past him. He sent it back to her with a wink.

_Touché_

Hermione laughed and folded it up before the bell went and she met up with him just outside the big doors.

'I knew that was all you wanted.' She said to him.

'You can't blame a guy for trying.' He answered as they mage their way to charms.

'Who says you didn't succeed?' She asked, walking a little faster as he stopped dead in his tracks. It took him a while before he came back to life again and had to run to catch up with her.

'You aren't serious?' He asked.

'Of course I am.' She answered. Draco took her by the arms and kissed her sweetly.

'We don't have to you know.' He said to her.

'I know.' She said and they entered the Charms room. Draco followed her in with a huge grin.

He sat down beside her and squeezed her hand under the table. Hermione smiled at him and turned back to Professor Flitwick. He lectured them all on the spell they were going to perform and showed what they had to do in order for it to work.

It took a bit of skill and time, but Hermione and Draco eventually got it. As a result, they got to talk for the rest of the lesson while the class practiced.

When the bell went, they made their way to their next class, Herbology, with Professor Sprout.

As they walked in with Harry, Ron, Pansy, Blaise and Sierra trailing after, they met up with Neville. The boy still didn't trust the Slytherins very much.

'Hey Neville!' Hermione said happily as they caught up with him.

'Hey Hermione.' The boy said fearfully, taking glances at Draco, who nodded to Neville, making the boy even more scared.

'Ready for Herbology then?' She asked him. Neville seemed to relax a little as the subject turned to Herbology.

'Yeah, I can't wait to see what Professor Sprout is going to let us do today. I love working with the plants.' Neville said. Draco gave him a thoughtful look.

'You really like the subject, don't you Longbottom?' He asked. Neville nodded shakily. So far, Draco hadn't exactly noticed Neville, so the timid boy had never met the nicer side of Draco that the others had.

'Yes, I do.' Came the half-stuttered reply. Draco nodded thoughtfully.

'I enjoy the DADA and Potions more myself. I guess I've just grown up with it. I also don't like the thought of plants eating me.' Draco said with a grimace. Hermione giggled at the thought of Draco being eaten by one of the plants they had experienced so far. Draco shot her a look and she instantly quelled the giggling.

'Think that's funny do you?' He asked with a slight smile.

'Sorry, I was just imagining you being eaten by one of the Mandrakes from a couple of years back.' Hermione said, engulfed by giggles once again by the image that came to mind. Draco got her round the neck, making her laugh and gave her a nugie, making everyone else laugh at their antics.

'Mr. Malfoy, please release Miss Granger immediately.' Professor Sprout said tiredly as she walked past them, pulling on her gloves and getting her key to open the Greenhouse door.

Draco let go of Hermione quickly, but she was still laughing so much that she was bent over double. Draco poked his tongue out at her, making her laugh harder.

'Do control yourself Miss Granger.' Professor Sprout said.

'Yes, sorry Professor.' Hermione said, after calming herself down some and began to walk straight again.

As they walked into the greenhouse, they saw plants that Hermione thought looked like a bigger version of the Mimbulus Mimbiltonia that Neville had last year.

They all went and found a desk with the plant on it and stood there, putting their gloves and goggles on.

'Now, class, today we will be dealing on how to juice the Mimbulus Mimbiltonia, without getting it all over you. Now, watch carefully.' Sprout demonstrated on how to do it, and then she set everyone to try it out for themselves. Hermione and Neville had the easiest time doing this, but Neville was the expert. He had his done in 30 minutes, and was going around the class with Sprout, helping out the other students with theirs. Even Draco asked to have some help with his.

But the biggest surprise when Ron annoyed his plant and it squirted a whole lot of juice all over him. Everyone was laughing at him. Even Pansy, though she tried not to show it.

'Stupid boy.' Sprout muttered under her breath as she made her way over to him to help get the stuff off of him. Draco, Blaise and Harry were nearly on the floor in laughter at the shocked, split-second look on Ron's face when the thing had exploded on him.

'Whoo. That is one to keep in the old pensieve in case I need a good cheer up.' Draco said. Hermione hit him on the shoulder, but she could help but silently agree with him. Ron did look absolutely hilarious with that goo all over him. Just then she saw Pansy go up to him.

'You do know that you are going to clean yourself up before you even dare try to hug me.' She said. Hermione giggled at this. Ron was going to have hard time with this. He couldn't keep his hands off the girl.

'Won't take too long, Miss Parkinson, before you can have the boy back.' Sprout said, flicking her wand at Ron, and all the goo left him.

'How come I still smell like that horrid stuff?' Ron asked, smelling his arm and pulling a face.

'It will take a while before that smell comes off Weasley. I suggest at least three baths, if not more. The young ones aren't that bad on the smell, comes off when you evaporate it. But the adults stink can take up to several days. I'm sure you want your man-stink to come back by then.' Sprout said, bustling her way back up to her work station.

Hermione and Draco looked at each other with questioning expressions.

'Man-stink?' They mimed to each other, before Hermione burst into a fit giggles and Draco snorted, rather elegantly though.

By the end of class, Draco didn't think that he had ever laughed so much in one class. And it was all thanks to Ron.

'That was excellent Ron. Though, I do agree with Sprout, you should go take a couple of baths.' Draco said patting him on the back. They all cracked up again. Even Pansy let herself laugh.

'Come on Ron, it was funny. Even you have to admit it!' She exclaimed, taking his arm. 'You'll be right as rain again in a couple of days.'

Ron just grunted and kissed her on the head before running up the stairs to the Gryffindor Common Room. Hermione patted Pansy on the back.

'Just let him get used to the fact that we were just teasing him in a friendly way. He'll come round again tomorrow. No one can fight as long as Ron and I do. You have nothing to worry about. He loves you.' Hermione said, saying a very "heartfelt" goodbye to Draco and walking up to her dormitories, Harry in tow.

Hermione came down the stairs later, after putting away her books to find Harry had already left, so she walked down by herself.

When she came down the stairs, she found Draco waiting for her. She smiled at him as he stood there.

'You take too long.' He told her, after kissing her hello.

'Well, I wasn't exactly planning on meeting you here.' She answered as they walked into the Hall. Draco smirked and gave her a quick kiss before heading off to his table, and Hermione did the same.

'Do you two have to do that in public?' Harry asked.

'You're one to talk! I found you and Sierra snogging in the hallway over the holidays. I swear Prongs was about to have a fit when he saw it!' Hermione exclaimed in a whisper. Harry at least had the decency to flush.

'Okay, okay. I get your point. But are you trying to get yourself killed?! You are already on Voldemort and Lucius Malfoys' wanted list because of it. Draco got thrown out of his house because of it. And no, I'm not blaming that on you. Draco chose you over his family. But Hermione, you have as many people after you as I have! Try to make it a little less public. At least Sierra's family isn't trying to kill me; her immediate family anyway.' Harry said. Hermione was looking down at her plate by now and was fidgeting with her food.

'Look, Hermione, I'm not trying to make you feel horrible, but please, be a little more discreet. I want to see you live.' Harry pushed. Hermione just nodded and ate her food slowly.

After about 10 minutes of silence, Harry tapped Hermione on the arm again. He pulled something out from under his shirt.

'Here, you said you wanted it. Make the room unplottable and no one will be able to find you apart from the ones that know you are there.' Harry advised. Hermione took the cloak from him and tucked back up her shirt, before finishing her meal.

_I really need to get my mind off things, and Draco's the only one who can help._ Hermione thought.

After dinner finished, Hermione found Draco waiting for her outside in the Entrance Hall and he nodded to her before heading up the stairs towards the Seventh Floor.

Hermione hid in an alcove under the stairs after he left, and donned the Invisibility Cloak that Harry had given her.

One thing was for sure, Hermione definitely didn't return until rather early in the morning the next day.

--

The next night, Draco lay on his bed, thinking about the note that he had received from his mother while Hermione had been captured. He took it out of the desk of drawers beside his bed and opened it again.

He re-read the letter at least three times to make sure he had it all in his head.

When was he going to tell her? He knew he had to soon, but he just didn't know when. Time was gaining on him fast, and it was only a matter of time before it ran out completely. He only had a year left. He turned sixteen in less than a month.

In fact, now that he thought about it, he had less than a year. Women were pregnant for nine months, right? Yes, that was right. He remembered getting the "talk" in his second year, when he came home for the holidays.

Draco shuddered at the memory. That he didn't need remembering.

That was when Draco made up his mind. He was going to tell her tomorrow. He just needed some help organising it.

A/N: Hello again! Now it is time for my favorite part of the story! Naming all my lovely reviewers! 

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Thank you to all you lovely people! I love to read your reviews! They make me all happy inside! Please Review!


	21. Chapter Twenty One

A/N: Here's another chapter! Thanks to everyone who reviews! On with the show!

**Chapter Twenty-One **

The next morning, when Draco awoke, he immediately got out of bed and quickly got ready for classes. That day he was planning to seek out Harry and show him the letter that his mother had sent to him again and ask if he could him with figuring it out.

Draco pretty much ran up the stairs from the Slytherin dungeons two at a time and found Harry walking into the Great Hall with Hermione and Ron following.

'Hey, wait up!' He yelled to them. They all turned around and smiled to him. Hermione waved and Ron and Harry nodded to him.

When Draco reached them, he kissed Hermione sweetly and nodded to the other two while slipping his arm around her.

'Harry, could I talk to you for a moment?' Draco asked. Harry saw the serious look in his eyes and nodded curiously.

'Sure.' He answered. Draco kissed Hermione again before pulling Harry in the other direction. Both Ron and Hermione looked back at them suspiciously as they walked into the Great Hall for breakfast.

'Great, now I'm going to have to explain this to Hermione. Oh well, this is for the best.' Draco ran a hand through his hair. He turned back to look at Harry, who had his arms folded and was staring at him with a raised eyebrow. Draco sighed.

'Do you remember this?' Draco whispered showing Harry the letter from his mother covertly.

Harry took it and opened it. After scanning it through, he nodded his head and passed it back to Draco.

'Yeah, what about it?' He asked. Draco took it back and put it in his pocket, stalling for time.

'I want to tell Hermione about it today, though I'm not sure how. I need your help!' Draco said. Harry could see that he was clearly flustered.

'Ok, I'll help. But try not to do it today. How about on the weekend? That way you can break it to her while she's relaxed, not worrying about classes. That might make it easier on her.' Harry suggested. Draco nodded in thought.

'That could be a good idea. Than I could take her out, like, away from everything and explain it to her properly. Yeah, I'll do that. Can you help me with what I have to tell her?' Draco asked tentatively. Harry sighed and shook his head. Draco was useless.

'Yeah, I will. Let's talk about this later. Let's get into the Great Hall. I think Hermione might be getting jealous of me.' Harry joked and they walked into the Great Hall together, said goodbye and went their separate ways.

When Harry got to his table, Hermione and Ron stared at him curiously and questioningly.

'What was that all about?' Ron asked ever the one without any tact. Harry rolled his eyes.

'He had to ask me something important that you guys aren't allowed to know about. Don't worry, it's nothing completely horrible.' Harry smirked. Hermione still eyed him suspiciously, but let it go.

After breakfast, Draco, Sierra, Blaise and Pansy joined them outside the Great Hall and made their way to their first class.

Hermione was quiet the whole way there, and Draco found it odd, for someone who was usually so happy and chipper.

'What's wrong love?' He whispered into her hair. Hermione just shook her head and looked up at him, smiling.

'No, I'm fine. Just tired.' She answered. Hermione looked down at the ground again and Draco sighed.

'You're jealous that I talked with Harry this morning, aren't you?' He asked in another whisper.

'No, of course not.' She answered quickly, a little too quickly, in Draco's opinion. Too quickly for him to believe her, anyway.

He buried his face in her hair.

'You know I love you, right?' Draco asked. 'I didn't say anything to him that would hurt you, you know. I'm not getting rid of you at all.' Hermione felt herself lean against him as she walked and rested her head on his shoulder.

'I love you too.' She answered.

They had just reached the Potions classroom by now and they entered just in time, because Snape himself entered as they sat in their usual seats for that class.

'Good Morning class. Now, today we will be doing the potion, Amortentia. Now, who can tell me what this potion is?' Snape asked.

After a while, seeing as no one else had put up their hands, Hermione put up hers. She was sick of not getting picked for questions she knew the answer to. So, she had come to the conclusion, that she would only do it if no one else knew.

'No one? This is very disappointing. Miss Granger, I'm sure you could tell us, could you not.' Snape said. Hermione sighed. He never very nice, was he?

'Amortentia is a love potion, that when brewed properly, the brewer can smell what ever smell that they love.' Hermione answered. Snape nodded and turned back to the class.

'Today, as I said, we will be making said potion. The instructions are on the board, go.' Snape sneered and they all started getting their potions ingredients ready.

'Oh, and I forgot to mention, I want samples on my desk by the end of class.' Snape said; his usual trademark smirk on his face as everyone groaned.

By the time she was finished her potion, the sweet smell of Draco filled her nostrils. Hermione breathed in deeply and sighed, smiling.

'You can smell him, can't you?' Harry teased in a low voice. Hermione glared playfully at the boy and hit him on the shoulder. Harry laughed and then looked at her seriously.

'Do you really love him that much? Like, you want to marry him and give him children, that much?' Harry asked. Hermione looked at him, and saw the utter seriousness in his eyes. She looked at him thoughtfully.

'Yeah, I do. I want to spend the rest of my life with him Harry. I love him that much.' Hermione answered, smiling lightly. Harry grinned at her and put his arm around her, squeezing her to his side.

'That's brilliant. He loves you that much too you know.' He said, winking at her. Hermione just laughed and smiled.

'Hermione, when do you think that you would want children?' Harry asked. Hermione looked at him worriedly, but she was a little bit amused too.

'Where is this coming from, Harry? It's like you've suddenly just become really interested in my relationship with Draco.' Hermione said. Harry shrugged.

'I'm curious. You can ask me any questions you want to so with me and Sierra afterwards.' Harry said. Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes.

'Put it this way, I think that being a young mother would be really hard, but I want them. I'm not just not sure when, but I think I could handle it young.' Hermione answered truthfully.

Harry's grin got wider, if that was even possible, and Hermione narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

'What was this all about Harry Potter? Did Draco ask you to ask me this?' She asked. Harry looked mock shocked.

'What? How could you Hermione? Of course not!' Harry said. Hermione just shook her head and bottled her finished potion and gave it to Snape, who just looked at her and nodded his head.

Hermione flashed a quick smile at Draco, before sitting in her seat and resting her head on the table, thinking about what Harry had said.

_I wonder why Harry asked me all that stuff. I mean, it just suddenly came out of the blue. _

_**Maybe he wants us to get married as soon as we leave school.**_

_I want that, but I don't. Oh, I'm so confused! I love him, but I don't know if I want that quite yet. At some point yes. I don't even know if I could handle it so young!_

_**Did**__** Draco put Harry up to asking me this?**_

_I bet he did. I bet that this was what he was talking to him about this morning. _Hermione continued thinking about what had just happened until the bell went for break. She packed up all of her belongings and waited for her friends to pack up also. She smiled gently at Draco and he took her hand as they walked out of the room together.

'Draco, what did you talk to Harry about this morning?' Hermione asked innocently. Draco smiled at her cheekily.

'You don't get to find out until the weekend, love.' He said mysteriously. Hermione rolled her eyes.

'Does it have anything to do with marriage, or children?' She asked. Draco stopped dead in his tracks and when Hermione looked back at him with a confused expression, she saw that his face had completely blanched and he was staring straight ahead, standing stock still.

'Draco, baby, what's wrong?' Hermione asked, walking up to him and waving a hand in front of his face.

'Wh-what gave you that idea?' He asked in a choked voice. Hermione looked at him even more curiously.

'Harry was asking me all sorts of questions about how much I loved you and whether I wanted children young and whether I wanted to get married young and stuff like that. Why?' She asked. Draco hissed under his breath and he was finally able to move again. The colour had also come back into his face.

'Bastard.' Draco hissed.

'What's wrong Draco?' Hermione said firmly. Draco sighed, running a hand through his hair. It happened to be a nervous habit that he had picked up from Harry. He had to admit, it did help calm his nerves somewhat.

'Looks like I'm going to have to tell you today. I was planning on telling you on the weekend, where it had time to sink in properly, but since Harry asked you those damn questions, which I will get back at him for by the way, I'll have to tell you tonight. Come to the Room of Requirement after dinner, alright?' He asked. Hermione nodded and he took her hand again, and they ran to catch up to the others, who were waiting for them in the Entrance Hall.

'Did you two stop for a quick snog before deciding to catch up?' Ron asked suggestively. He was grinning like a maniac and the others laughed lightly at his joke.

'No, we didn't, and Harry, you're dead meat mate. I said we'd wait to tell her you fool!' Draco almost yelled. Harry at least had the decency to flush with slight colour.

They all looked at them strangely.

'What's this all about?' Blaise asked. They all looked at both of them, completely confused.

'Never mind, you'll find out soon enough anyway.' Draco said with a sigh.

Hermione spent the rest of that day until dinner wondering about what it was that Draco had to tell her.

That night, Hermione took Harry's invisibility cloak again and made her way to the Room of Requirement. She found Draco standing in the shadows of the tapestry, waiting for her.

She tapped him on the shoulder, and when she saw him jump away and pull out his wand, she giggled and went up behind him.

'It's just me you know. You can lower you wand.' She whispered. Draco let out sigh of relief and turned around, she took off the cloak and he enveloped her in a huge hug.

'Hey you.' He whispered. She could tell he was a little jumpy, so she kissed him on the cheek and pulled back.

'Shall we go in now?' She asked. Draco nodded and went over to the wall opposite, walked past it three times, when a door appeared and he opened it, motioning her in first with a sweep of his arm like a muggle butler.

Hermione giggled and swept into the room before Mrs. Norris or Filch came past and Draco was right at her heels.

She sat down on one of the couches and Draco sat beside her and wrapped her in his arms, rubbing his face into her hair and breathed in deeply.

'I love you.' He muttered. Hermione looked at him.

'I love you too, but what did you have to tell me?' She asked him. Draco sighed and took the letter from his mother out of his pocket. He handed it to her and she looked at it with curious eyes.

'What is this?' She asked.

'It's a letter from my mother, I received it while you were, um, "visiting," my mansion.' Draco winced as he felt Hermione shudder at the memories she thought she had repressed.

'What does it say?' She asked carefully. Draco snorted.

'You'll have to read it, dear. I'm not going to tell you. Don't worry, the letter says it all. Oh, and that was the first time I ever heard about it. Just so you know.' He said. Draco still hadn't let go of the wonderful beauty in his arms, and he wasn't about to.

He watched as Hermione opened the letter and began to read it. He heard her hands shake and held her tighter.

When she finished, she pulled back from him slightly so he would look into her eyes.

'Is all of this true?' She asked quietly. Draco nodded, without breaking eye contact. Draco saw the tears that slid down her face.

'I'm not having you die Draco Malfoy. You'll have you child.' She whispered. Draco took her into his arms and hugged her tightly.

'I never could have asked for a better girlfriend.' He whispered.

'I'll be there for you Draco. But, when is your birthday, we need a deadline.' She said with a small smile.

'I actually didn't think that you'd take this so well.' He said, using his thumb to wipe the tears off of her soft cheeks. 'My Birthday is in a week. On Friday to be exact.'

Hermione looked thoughtfully to herself.

'So, we have exactly a year.' She said to herself. Draco nodded absent-mindedly.

'And pregnancy takes at least nine months. For muggles anyway, I'm not sure if it's the same for us. Is it?' She looked up at him questioningly.

'It's about 7 months for us. Mum told me, not that I wanted to know of course.' Draco added. Hermione giggled.

'So, I would have to get pregnant within the next. . .' She looked thoughtful as she counted up the months. '5 months, or else it will be too late?'

'Yes, it seems like it.' Draco answered. Hermione bit her lip, focused her eyes on the ground and looked a bit anxious. Draco noticed this and lifted her head to look up into his eyes.

'What is it, love?' He asked her. Hermione looked down again and when she spoke, her voice was little above a whisper.

'I think I might already be pregnant.' Draco looked at her with wide-eyes.

'What do you mean? When was it?' He asked.

'I've been rather violently sick lately and my stomach hurts and I've just been so lethargic. I think that it was form last night. I don't get it. I haven't been to see Madame Pomfrey yet though. I'm scared of what she'll say.' Hermione answered, her voice still not raising much above a whisper. Draco hugged her tightly.

'You have to go see her Hermione. This will help both of us. You have to. I'll go with you if you want.' He said to her. She looked up at him.

'Would you?' She asked him, watching him with hope in her eyes.

'Of course I would! Why don't we go over the weekend, when we have the time?' He asked her. Hermione nodded her head and hugged Draco tightly. After all these revelations, she was indeed very tired.

'What time is it, love?' She asked quietly. Draco looked down at the analogue watch that he was given when he was younger and looked at it with confusion.

'I'm sure we haven't been in here that long. It's 1a.m.' He said. Hermione looked up with a curious expression.

'That's odd.' She muttered. 'Oh well, I better get to bed. I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?' She said. Draco nodded and kissed her softly, before they both rose from their position on the couch and made their way to the door.

'Do you want to go under the Invisibility cloak, just in case?' She whispered to him. Draco nodded and hopped under the cloak with her, before they opened the door. They saw no one there, so Draco hopped out from under it after kissing Hermione and casting a disillusionment charm on himself and walking away.

Hermione followed suit. They made their way to their dormitories, and after collapsing on their beds, they knew that neither of them was going to get any sleep that night.

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	22. Chapter Twenty Two

A/N: Hello! I'm getting another out! Yay! I seem to be getting better! I hope you enjoy the next installment of A Malfoy's Curse!

**Chapter Twenty-Two – What's Really Going On**

The next morning, Draco got up and groaned. Today was going to be interesting.

He walked down to the Great Hall, to find Hermione and the rest of the Slytherins and Gryffindors talking amiably. Hermione did look very tired though. He walked up to them yawning.

'Hey all.' He muttered. They all greeted him and he wrapped his arms around Hermione. She rested her head on his, which was resting on her shoulder with his eyes closed and sighed.

'I don't think that we should have stayed up so late.' Draco said to her. Hermione nodded her head slightly, and Draco smiled at her.

'Let's go have breakfast.' He heard Ron say, and let go of Hermione so that they could walk into the hall. They each kissed their lover goodbye before heading to their respective tables.

Draco and his friends all sat down at the table and Draco rested his head down on the table.

'Long night?' Blaise teased, with a smirk. Draco nodded, looking up at Blaise with a serious face.

'You have no idea.' Draco answered. Then he thumped his head down on the table again.

'I heard you last night. I swear you didn't get any sleep last night.' Blaise said. Draco nodded.

'An hour, one whole, miserable hour.' Draco said, though his voice was slightly muffled because he didn't bother lifting his head again.

'What were you doing anyway that brought you back to the dorm so late?' Blaise asked with actual curiosity.

'I was up talking to Hermione in the Room of Requirement.' Draco muttered. Blaise smirked.

'Talking?' He asked. Draco nodded.

'Yes, Blaise, we actually talked not just snogged life out of each other. Actually, I think we only kissed twice, and that was to say hello and goodbye, and they were rather short.' Draco admitted. Blaise shook his head.

'What were you talking about?' He asked.

'You know about our dumb family curse right?' Draco asked in return. Blaise nodded, and then looked at him with wide-eyes.

'No way!' The idiot nearly shouted. Draco snapped up and shoved a hand over his mouth before he could say any more to get him into trouble. Hermione was still under age after all.

'Shut up you dickhead!' Draco whispered harshly, before turning to everyone that was looking at them funny and smiling at them. They turned away and went back to eating breakfast.

'Yes, Blaise, Hermione might be pregnant. We're going to find out on the weekend.' Draco told him in a whisper, straightening up and looking over to the Gryffindor table, where his love was only picking at the food on her plate. He sighed and turned back to Blaise.

'If she is, then it saves both of us, if she isn't, then we're just going to have to work on it.' Draco said. Blaise nodded and looked distantly at his plate.

'Do you think she'll be able to cope?' Blaise asked. Draco looked at his best friend thoughtfully.

'I think she might be able to. She's strong; she can handle almost everything else. I don't see any reason why she wouldn't be able to handle this. But if she can't, she knows that I will always be there to help her.' He answered truthfully. 'I mean, she faced my father for Merlin's sake. She should be able to handle this.'

Unknown, to Draco though, Hermione was not coping well. Because she was so tired during her classes, her grades seemed to be dropping and all the teachers were getting worried about her. Even Snape.

They were concerned enough to talk to Draco about it anyway.

'Mr. Malfoy!' Draco turned around to see his Head of House gliding towards him with a determined look on his face.

'Mr. Malfoy, follow me for a second.' Snape said when he had caught up to Draco. Draco turned and whispered a good bye towards Hermione before following Snape into a shadowy alcove.

'Would you be kind enough to tell me what you have done to Miss Granger to make her act the way she is in class?' Snape asked. Though it was dark in the alcove they were standing in, Snape could have sworn he saw the boy turn pale. Well, paler than he already was.

'Well, sir, um, you know about my families curse, don't you?' Draco asked nervously, not looking at Snape at all, but inspecting the wall beside him. He heard Snape groan.

'You didn't?' Snape asked, shaking his head, which was now in his hands.

'I don't know. We were going to check over the weekend, we thought it would be a better time than during our classes and everything, because we thought it would be even more distracting and we didn't have time or anything.' Draco had trailed off by the time he had finished and he still wasn't looking at his Head of House.

'What do your parents think of her?' Snape asked quietly.

'Well, my mother seems to like her, but father, well, put it this way, he tried to kill her. Painfully.' Draco answered. Snape groaned again.

'You do realise that the witch is still underage?' The older man asked him.

'Yes, that is why you can't tell anyone! Please! By the time she's of age, it'll be too late and I'll be gone. Please tell me you won't tell anyone.' Draco pleaded. Snape looked at him with thinly veiled disgust.

'That girl has stripped you of all Slytherin qualities, you know?' He answered.

'That isn't much of an answer and I did it to myself because I love her. Now promise me!' Draco demanded.

'Fine, boy, I won't tell a soul, but if your father gets wind of this, I was never told anything about it, got it, Malfoy?' Snape said. Draco nodded and they both shook hands before leaving the alcove and walking their separate ways.

Draco joined Hermione in class, and sat down beside her, taking her hand in his and squeezing it gently. She looked up at him and gave him a curious and questioning smile.

'What did Snape want?' She asked quietly. They were in Charms and he had turned up at least two, maybe three minutes late.

'I had to tell him why you weren't acting the same in class. He was oddly determined to find out why. I made him promise not to tell anyone though.' He added hastily when he saw the worried look on Hermione's face.

'Good. I don't even know if it's true yet. I think we should find out after dinner.' She decided. Draco stared at her.

'Why? I thought we agreed we would when we had more time on our hands.' He whispered urgently.

'I need to know Draco. I can't handle acting this way and not knowing. I can see the looks the teachers shoot me when they see my head resting on the table, instead to sitting up, ready to answer questions. I can see the way the rest of the class talk about me. Lavender and Parviti are already betting that I am pregnant. I have to know if this is why.' Hermione begged. Draco nodded and hugged her tightly.

'Ok love. We'll go to Madame Pomfrey tonight after dinner. We are going to have to get an escort back though.' He said thoughtfully.

'Snape's the only teacher that knows. Dumbledore might know though, he knows everything, but would Snape do it?' Hermione asked.

'I'll make him.' Draco said determinedly.

That night, at dinner, Draco went up to Snape at the Head table. Hermione and her friends watched with awe as he talked heatedly with the Potions Master.

'What's he doing?' Harry asked in a whisper as he watched the exchange.

'Well, we decided that we were going to check if I was pregnant after dinner, but we realised the we were going to need an escort on the way back so that we wouldn't get into trouble with any other teachers that happen to walk the halls at night, though he seems to be the only one that does, we wanted to be careful. And he knows about Draco's curse.' Hermione answered. Harry nodded and looked back down at his dinner.

Hermione continued to watch though. She saw Snape finally nod and send Draco on his way. The boy turned to Hermione and nodded his head to her, smiling brightly. Hermione nodded back and smiled lightly at him. Her stomach didn't seem to like her much at the moment, so she didn't eat very much before the end of dinner came and Dumbledore said that they were to go to bed. That was when Draco came up behind her and placed a hand at the small of her back.

'You coming?' He whispered to her. Hermione nodded and they both got up and walked to the door. Draco turned back around and nodded to Professor Snape, who got out of his chair with a sigh and followed along beside the group of teenagers gossiping and talking. He reached the two outside the Great Hall, and they started to walk again once they saw him.

Draco made sure to keep a reassuring arm around Hermione, who was to be trying to take calming breaths. He squeezed her closer to him.

'Try not to be too nervous love. Everything will be fine.' He reassured.

'I don't know if I want to be or not.' She confided in him. Hermione looked up at Draco to find him smiling at her gently.

'I don't mind either way. But I think that I'd prefer it if you were.' He said. Hermione laughed lightly.

'You know. If it's true, you are going to have to put up with my mood swings constantly.' She said, raising an eyebrow. Draco was glad to see that she was slowly loosening up and becoming more of the Hermione he loved.

'I put up with those every month anyway.' Draco said, waving his hand in dismissal. Hermione pinched him lightly in the arm and they walked the rest of way joking and laughing.

But that soon stopped as they reached hospital wing. Hermione and Draco each drew a breath.

'Well, are you going in or what? You have successfully wasted my time up until this point; I have other things that I wish to be doing other than escorting hormonal teenagers all over the castle. Now hurry.' Snape snapped (Hah!). Hermione rolled her eyes and walked into the Hospital Wing. Draco followed behind her and Snape followed grudgingly behind him.

Hermione reached Madame Pomfrey quickly and explained the situation. Draco came up behind her as she spoke and put a reassuring hand on her back. Snape stood by the closed door and just listened.

At the end of Hermione's story, Madame Pomfrey nodded and took her to a bed.

'Don't worry dear girl, this won't hurt at all, I just need to run a spell over you. Can you lay on the bed for me?' The old Matron said. Hermione lay down on the bed and closed her eyes. Draco took her hand and held it comfortingly.

Madame Pomfrey held her wand over Hermione and whispered a couple of charms to detect if their suspicions were correct.

After at least five minutes of constant muttering, Madame Pomfrey pulled away from the bed and put away her wand.

'Well, I'm pleased to inform both of you that you will be proud parents within 7 months.' Madame Pomfrey said.

Hermione didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and neither did Draco, so they both just sat their looking at her.

'If you two are done looking like morons, I would like to escort you back to your dorms so I can get some rest. And after that announcement, it looks like Miss Granger is going to need some too.' Snape said. Hermione and Draco stood up and turned to leave, but not before thanking the Matron.

'Thankyou Madame Pomfrey. Can I ask you to keep this to yourself though? It's just-' Hermione started, but she was cut off by Madame Pomfrey waving her hand at her.

'You don't need to tell me that. I'm under a confidentially contract. I can't tell a soul, even if I want to.' Madame Pomfrey winked at us and we smiled and left.

'Well, now we know.' Draco said to her. Snape was trailing so far behind that that he was able to bring Hermione into a hug and kissed her softly.

'I don't know whether I'm happy, or sad.' She whispered to him as they stood and held each other.

'Why would you be sad?' Draco asked, letting his hold on her go a little so he could look at her at arms length.

'Oh, I just feel too young. I mean, I'm in school still. I don't feel as like I should be pregnant yet.' She whispered.

'So you shouldn't be.' A voice spoke out from behind them. . .

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	23. Chapter Twenty Three

**A/N: Hello! I am so sorry that i haven't updated in a while. i am also sorry that i left it on a cliffie and i didn't update. and i know i'm going to be hunted down with pitch folks. flaming ones. but, thank you to all the people that stayed with me. i'm just amazed that i got no hints/nudges/shoves/pushes/bashings to get this chapter up! i'll be thanking you again! Enjoy!**

**Chapter Twenty-Three **

Hermione and Draco turned around to find Lucius Malfoy standing in the hallway behind them. Draco immediately took out his wand and stepped in front of his pregnant girlfriend.

'Where's Snape?' Draco asked menacingly. Lucius just sneered.

'The man had to take a walk. I sent him outside.' Lucius said, waving his hand to dismiss the question. He flicked his wand at the other end of the corridor.

Snape fell down, face first into the ground, and lay still, spread-eagled on the floor.

Hermione screamed, thinking the man was dead, and Lucius flicked his wand at her, silencing her.

'Do not worry, he is only stunned. The Dark Lord would kill me if he found out that I killed one of his most faithful servants.' Lucius hissed.

'What do you want?' Draco said. He kept flashing glances to the unconscious man at the end of the hall. Lucius laughed, a high-pitched, cruel laugh.

'You know what I want Draco. I want your precious little mudblood and the filthy little child she carries inside of her dead.' Lucius answered as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

'You know you're not going to get that. Pick something else.' Draco snarled. Lucius glared.

'That is all that I will take. Unless you want to die anyway?' Lucius asked with a raised eyebrow.

'Not in your lifetime.' Draco hissed. The boy stood at the ready and aimed his wand at his father. Lucius was just as cautious and glared at the impertinence of his son.

'Prepare to die boy, and when you do, rest assured that your filthy little mudblood won't live another day. Neither will your unfortunate child.' Lucius stated. Draco shot the first hex at the man and Lucius blocked it with ease.

Hermione stood against the wall, tears streaming down her face as she watched her boyfriend and his father duel. Coloured lights streamed every which way and many of the statues and suits of armour were broken, or reduced to dust.

Draco ducked behind a statue for a couple of seconds, just near Hermione, and pulled her down with him. Hermione hugged him tight, not wanting to let go.

'Hermione, love, I need you to get out of here. Please, try to go, I don't want you hurt.' Draco begged. Lucius was aiming spell after spell at the suit of armour, but in his anger, every one of them missed by inches.

'I can't, I won't leave you.' Hermione mouthed. Draco kissed her soundly and pulled away, wiping the tears from her with his thumbs while he had hold of her face.

'Please, Hermione, the last thing I want is for you to die, along with our child, please, just leave, I'll be fine.' Draco whispered, kissing her again before getting up and firing curse after curse at his father.

Hermione stood up, deciding that she should probably do what Draco wanted and save her and the baby. She peeked out from behind the statue and watched Lucius, making sure he wasn't watching her.

Draco had lead his father away from her, and his back was to her.

But Lucius had found a way past his sons' defences and threw him against the wall just as Hermione decided to come out from behind the statue and try to escape. Lucius had already turned around.

She locked eyes with Lucius for only a second, but that was all it took. Instead of aiming his wand at Draco, Lucius turned around and pointed it straight at her. Hermione tried to scream again, but she still had the silencing spell on her, so it was impossible.

Draco looked at where Lucius was pointing his wand and began to run in front of her.

'No!' He yelled, just as Lucius screamed, 'Avada Kedavra!' The green light flashed towards Hermione, and she turned away from it, only to open her eyes a couple of seconds later to find Dumbledore standing in front of her, wand out and pointing straight at Lucius Malfoy.

Draco stood up, from where he had fallen on the floor from trying to get to Hermione and walked over beside Dumbledore, breathing hard.

As for Hermione, she didn't think that she had ever seen her Headmaster so mad. Yes, he had been made at the impostor Moody in her fourth year, but he was madder still.

'Lucius, what do you think you are doing here?' Dumbledore asked, his voice strangely low for one so bright and happy.

'I came here to do exactly what I should have done when I had the girl in my grasp the first time.' Lucius hissed. He pointed his wand at Dumbledore, but before he could even think of a spell to hit him with, he was knocked over the head with a vase, which shattered when it came in contact with his head.

As Lucius fell, they all saw who was standing behind him. Severus Snape.

Hermione almost laughed with joy, if she still wasn't overly shocked at what had happened to begin with.

'The man never could pull off a decent stunner.' Snape drawled, stunning the man laying at his feet and floated him in mid air with a flick of his wand. Dumbledore smiled thinly at the Potions Master and turned to Hermione.

'Are you alright, my dear?' He asked her softly, compassion showing in every little bit of his eyes. Hermione tried to talk, but couldn't, that is, until Draco took the silencing spell off of her.

'I'm ok, just a little bit shocked still.' She whispered. Draco came up beside her and took her into his arms.

'Shh, it's ok now, he's gone.' He whispered to her. Hermione just sobbed into his shoulder as he held her and clutched him back, like her life depended on it.

'Mr. Malfoy, why don't you take young Ms. Granger back to her dormitory, where her friends can care for her, unless you would like to stay with her tonight?' Dumbledore asked, mischief glinting in his eyes.

Draco looked at Hermione, whose face was still buried in his shoulder and looked back up at Dumbledore.

'She needs me tonight; I want to stay with her.' Draco said quietly. Dumbledore nodded and sent them to the Room of Requirement, where he made a room for them.

Draco and Hermione lay down on the bed and faced Dumbledore to say goodnight. After they had done so, Dumbledore made his way over to the door, but before walking out of the room, he looked back with a slight smile on his face.

'Look after her and the baby Draco, they will both need you.' Dumbledore said, and then left the room, closing the door behind him, leaving a very confused and surprised Draco Malfoy behind.

Hermione snuggled up close to Draco and held him tightly in her arms.

'Don't worry Draco that man knows too much anyway. It comes as no surprise to me that he knew before we told him.' She told him. Draco just nodded.

'He was probably waiting in the shadows for the right time to jump out and save someone. That's how he heard it.' Draco muttered. Hermione laughed lightly.

'Probably. You never know with that man. He can be so mysterious sometimes, yet, at others, I think I've got him all figured out.' She mumbled. Draco stroked her hair and nodded absent-mindedly. His thoughts were elsewhere.

'What do you think they will do with my father?' He asked in a whisper. Hermione looked up at him with sad eyes.

'I don't know Draco. I would have thought that they would keep him until tomorrow, when they could take him into the Ministry and show them evidence of what happened, so they could throw him in Azkaban. But really, I'm just not sure.'

Draco nodded as he felt the tears leek out of his eyes.

'I would choose you over him any day, but I can't help but feel hurt by the fact that he won't accept the one good thing in my life. As much as I hate him, I love him too. He is my father after all.' Draco whispered. Hermione sat up a bit and looked him in the eyes. She reached a hand up and placed it on his cheek.

'I'm sorry, Draco; I didn't mean to tear your family apart.' She whispered to him. Draco shook his head forcefully.

'No, you did no such thing. It was just a matter of time before my father went overboard and I knew that my mother was slowly drifting away from him. She loves him so much, but she just can't understand why he does all this. With the Death Eaters, and hating people that are different from him. Especially muggles. They haven't done anything to him. Why does he hate them so much?' Draco muttered, wiping the tears from his eyes.

'He hates them because like you said, they are different. They do things different ways and they have things that we don't have. Like electricity, and cars and all that sort of stuff. He just doesn't understand it, so he hates it. He doesn't understand it so he wants to get rid of it. Don't worry about it too much Draco. There really is nothing you can do about it.' Hermione whispered, stroking his face and looking into his eyes of steely grey.

Draco just nodded and held her in his arms tightly, staring at the wall behind them.

The two were silent for some time, both in their own worlds and thinking about their own things; until suddenly, Hermione spoke up.

'Draco, do you think we should tell the others?' She asked. Draco looked at her thoughtfully.

'I think we should. I have to tell Sierra anyway, she made me promise to tell her when it happened. So, I guess, we better tell Harry, Ron, Pansy, Blaise and Ginny also.' He agreed. Hermione nodded and laid her head back down.

'Do you think things will ever be the same?' She asked quietly. Draco looked puzzled.

'How do you mean?' He asked. Hermione sighed.

'Well, with me having a baby, I'm just going to be even more stressed than I usually am, which isn't very good in the first place,' Draco snorted at this and Hermione hit his arm. 'Secondly, having a child is going to be hard when we still have one year of schooling left, don't you think?' She asked.

'True. It will be hard, but I know that we can do this together. We've been this far, haven't we?' He said with a slight smile. Hermione smiled back at him and nodded, before resting her head down again.

'Get some rest now love; you need it more than I do.' He whispered to her, and she nodded. Within seconds, the girl was asleep.

**A/N: And here we are, at the end of another chapter! Thank you to all my amazing reviewers!**

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**Thank you to everyone who reviewed! You light up my world! i know i said something similar to that last time, but, i am completely umimaginatary. I don't even think thats a real word. oh well. **

**I think i might be ending the story soon, but don't get your hopes up. We still have to get through seventh year. and i might do an epilogue. i'm not sure. **

**okay, that just about wraps it up. one last word, REVIEW!**


	24. Chapter Twenty Four

**A/N: Hello everyone! I thought that I would get this out now, because I couldn't really think of anything else to put in it. I hope you all really like it! Please Review!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize. The whole of the HP world belongs to JKR. Please don't sue!**

**Chapter Twenty Four **

The next morning, Draco awoke to the sweet smell of his Hermione's hair, and the soft feeling of it against his face. He looked down to find her comfortably asleep, looking as peaceful as ever.

He smiled down at her. She would be just fine.

He stroked her hair lovingly until she woke up, and when she did, she smiled at him softly in her half-awakened state.

'Hey,' He muttered to her, still stroking her hair. 'Are you ready to tell everyone today?' Hermione nodded as she yawned and curled up against him again.

'Yes, I don't want to get up yet though.' She murmured. Draco had to laugh at her. She was still so tired.

'Come on, we have to get up. Two more days of classes, then it's the weekend. Come on.' He shoved her. Hermione just rolled over, effectively turning her back towards him. Draco rolled his eyes and wrapped his arms around her stomach.

'Come on. We have to get up and ready for classes. Dumbledore said something about the floo being connected to our Common Room fireplaces, so we don't even have to walk through the halls.' Draco said. Hermione nodded and they both got up, and took to the fireplace.

'Wait a second.' Hermione said, taking out her wand and waved it at Draco, saying the incantation, "Tergeo," then pointed it at herself and said the same thing. Draco looked at her oddly.

'Just so people don't think something inappropriate happened.' She said with a slight cheeky smile. Draco smiled back and shook his head.

'Fine then. Ladies first.' He said, sweeping his arm towards the fire and, giggling, Hermione stepped forward and withdrew some of the floo powder from the side of the fireplace and threw it in.

Hermione stepped up to Draco and kissed him passionately first, before turning her back and walking into the fire.

'I love you.' She whispered. Draco smiled back at her.

'I love you too.' He spoke back. Hermione smiled, one that made Draco go weak.

'I'll see you at breakfast.' She said, before yelling, 'Gryffindor Common Room!' And she was gone.

Draco took some floo powder for himself and threw it into the fire, stepped in, and yelled, 'Slytherin Common Room,' and disappeared himself.

* * *

That morning, at breakfast, Hermione smiled at Draco as she sat down at the Gryffindor table with Harry, Ron, Ginny and Neville. Hermione, who was sitting next to Ginny, leaned over to her inconspicuously.

'Ginny, get Harry and Ron to meet me in the Room of Requirement tonight. I have to tell you three something.' She whispered to her and Ginny nodded slightly to show that she understood.

Just at that moment, Hermione heard someone scream her name from the other side of the hall, then a type of muffled sound, as the person tried to keep calling to her. Hermione turned around to see Sierra running towards her. Hermione shot a curious look at Draco, who gave her an apologetic one. Then, suddenly, she felt something slam into her.

'Hermione! I am so happy for you! Congratulations!' Sierra screamed in Hermione's ear. Hermione pulled a painful expression as she pulled herself out of the screaming girls' arms.

'I'm sorry, I only caught about half of that, a crazy girl was screaming in my ear!' Hermione yelled that last part and Sierra was still jumping and laughing and squealing, drawing what Hermione thought was way too much attention.

'Sierra, would you shut up! I haven't told them yet, and I wasn't planning to until tonight!' Hermione hissed, pulling the girl to sit down next to her. Sierra just pulled her into another hug, and Hermione patted her on the back awkwardly.

'Oh Hermione! Have you thought up any names yet? Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?' Sierra started firing off questions in a hushed whisper at Hermione, who was listening, but not answering, not that she got a chance to. The girl wouldn't stop talking.

'Sierra, how about this,' Hermione interrupted, 'you come to the Room of Requirement with me and the others in Gryffindor tonight, bring Pansy, Blaise and Draco with you, and I will explain it all then.' Hermione said. She had taken the girl by her arms and stood her up. Sierra was as excited as puppy being let out to play.

'Sure, I'll bring them all. Straight after dinner?' She asked. Sierra's eyes were so vibrant that Hermione was sure she would never hear the end of her excitement.

'Yes, straight after dinner.' Hermione responded. Sierra nodded happily and ran back to the Slytherin table. Hermione sat back down again and put her head in her hands. Harry looked at her with raised eyebrows and a slight smile.

'What was that all about?' He asked amusedly.

'You'll find out tonight.' Hermione answered vaguely. Harry nodded and went back to his conversation with Neville, Ron and Ginny about Quidditch.

The day passed rather slowly after that. Hermione wasn't nearly as tired as the day before, but she wasn't eating much either, because of the fact that she felt entirely too fat. All of her friends, including Draco, always tried to persuade her out of it, but she would have none of it. The ended up giving up. Hermione would only burst into tears if they contradicted her, of said something that had an ambiguity in it, which she thought that, had the meaning that they were calling her fat. Draco didn't think he could handle it any more, and then Sierra reminded him that it only got worse as the time went on. Draco was not impressed to say the least.

But he still loved her. Merlin, did he love Hermione Granger. To him, even when she was crying and all puffy faced and red, she was the most beautiful creature in the world. He told her countless times, and it was the only thing that seemed to cheer her up. She would give him a watery smile and bury her head in his shoulder and wonder aloud what se ever did to deserve him. Secretly, Draco was asking himself the same thing.

By the time the end of the day came, and dinner was upon them, Ginny had forced some food down Hermione's throat, threatening to Bat Bogey Hex her if she didn't eat anything. Hermione had slowly complied, then said that she'd have to do some exercise later to burn all the fat she just ate. Ginny nearly hit her with the hex whether she ate or not.

After dinner, Ginny, Harry and Ron dragged the girl to the Room of Requirement. They opened to the door to find Draco and co. already in there.

When they walked in, Draco instantly got up and walked over to Hermione, wrapping his arms around her and walking her over to the sofa. Harry went over to sit next to a bouncy Sierra and Ginny and Ron went over to sit next to Blaise and Pansy. Ginny and Blaise smiled lightly at each other before burning red and turning away. Pansy and Ron snogged for a little as a hello without words and settled back into the couch to hear what Draco and Hermione had to tell them. Hermione took a deep breath before beginning.

'Well, guys, I just thought I might inform you, that, well, I'm pregnant.' Hermione told them that last part really quickly, so most of her friends were exchanging odd looks with each other.

'What was that last part, Hermione? We didn't get it.' Sierra asked, smirking and giggling in a confused Harry's arms.

Hermione shot Serra a horrid look.

'Sierra, you should know not to annoy her better than anyone. Shut up.' Draco chastised. Sierra just smiled and relaxed. Hermione shot a thankful look at Draco and turned back to everyone else.

'I'm pregnant.' She said, though this time it was much slower. Draco and Hermione watched as their friends' eyes went wide at the news, and as Sierra, Ginny and Pansy got brilliant smiles on their faces.

'Congratulations Hermione!' They all yelled simultaneously, and got up to hug Hermione and Draco. Neither of them could hear anything of what was being said to them because of the amount of noise in the room. Draco had to intervene.

'Guys! We can't hear a word of what you're saying, but we get the general gist. Thank you for the congratulations. We have no names yet, we only found out last night that Hermione was in fact pregnant. We will tell you when we have them, but Lord Merlin above, shut up!' Draco yelled. Everyone started laughing and sat back down, the girls still squealing and clapping every so often.

'Oh Hermione, I'm so happy for you!' Ginny squealed. Hermione smiled and put a hand on her stomach, which Draco covered with his own. She smiled up at him and he kissed her softly. There was a resounding sound of sweet noises coming from everyone in the room before they started to laugh.

When they pulled apart, Hermione stuck her tongue out at them. They just laughed even more and Ginny and Sierra poked their tongues back out at her, before giggling themselves stupid.

'So, when are you due?' Sierra asked. Hermione bit her bottom lip.

'Seven months.' She answered. The girls squealed again, this time Harry clamped a hand over his ear that was closest to his girlfriend.

'Would you not squeal so loud? I think I might be going deaf already.' Harry complained, rubbing his ear, miming the word 'ow' and pulling a face. Hermione, Ginny and Pansy giggled at his remark and Sierra smacked him on the back of the head.

'You deserved that one mate.' Draco said smirking. Ron was all out laughing at Harry, who shot a glare back at him. Ron just got up and clapped him on the back.

'Well, this has been fun. Congratulations Hermione, Draco, but I need to get back to bed,' Ron said, stopping to yawn. 'I'm stuffed.' He finished. They laughed at him a little and Hermione got up to give Ron a hug and kissed him on the cheek.

'Thanks for your support, Ron.' Hermione said.

'That's fine Hermione, what, did you think I would hate it?' He asked. Hermione looked sheepish.

'Well, I had my doubts.' She confided. Ron just grinned and shook his head. Just then, Pansy stood up too.

'Well, I think I might go to bed too. Getting a bit tired myself.' She said, eyeing Ron for a second, before going to give Draco a hug and turned to Hermione.

'Congrats Hermione; I'm so happy for you.' Pansy said, hugging her tightly. Hermione broke into a grin and giggled.

'Thanks Pansy. I couldn't do this without all you guys support for me, well, us.' Hermione said. Pansy giggled.

'That's fine, I'm happy for you, all of us are. I'm going to go, I'm really tired. I had a huge day today. I'll see you guys tomorrow.' She called as she and Ron left the room arm in arm and closed the door behind them.

'I think we better head up too Hermione; it's getting late and we have Potions first tomorrow. I really don't want to be late to that.' Harry said, standing with Sierra at his side. Hermione hit herself in the head.

'Of course! Potions! How stupid am I? Well, we better all get to bed then. I'll see you al tomorrow morning.' She said. They all waved and hugged her and wished her and Draco even more congratulations before they left the room and Hermione and Draco were the only ones left.

Draco wrapped his arms around her middle and Hermione rested her head back on his shoulder. Draco kissed her neck sweetly and Hermione sighed.

'Do you want to stay here tonight? We don't actually have to go back up to our dorms. I'm sure Professor Dumbledore won't mind.

'Sure, lets stay here. I really can't be bothered walking up all those stairs to Gryffindor Tower.' Hermione said. Soon enough, the room had changed into the one that they had used last night to stay in and they had changed their clothes and gotten into bed.

Draco pulled Hermione against him and he wrapped his arms around her again.

'I love you Hermione Granger.' He whispered. Hermione turned her head to face him and smiled slightly.

'I love you too, Draco Malfoy.' She said. Draco kissed her softly, and she fell to sleep that night in his arms, with her last thought, _Draco will be a brilliant father._

**A/N: And here's to my wonderful reviewers! I think this is my longest list yet!**

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	25. Chapter Twenty Five

A/N: Hey everyone! I know it has been such a long time since I have updated this story, but my sister lent my USB stick that had the ending of my story on it to one of her friends, so I couldn't do anything for about a week. Then I was being lazy for two days and I finished it yesterday. YAY! Please don't hate me too much! Oh, and pretty, pretty, please review? 

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Never have, never will. 

**Chapter Twenty Five - Ginny and Blaise**

The next morning, Draco and Hermione got up quickly and walked back to their rooms to get changed before going down to breakfast. Both were met with the excited, smiling faces of their friends, who greeted them with huge hugs.

'So Hermione, still no names?' Ginny asked. Hermione sighed.

'No Ginny. We haven't thought up any names yet. I promise to tell you when we do.' She said, a slight smile appearing on her face. Ginny pouted and Hermione laughed.

'Let's turn this conversation away from me for a second. How are you and Blaise?' Hermione whispered conspiratorially. Ginny went a bright red and turned her head down to face her plate.

'Well, okay.' Ginny muttered.

'Ginny! What happened?' Hermione asked excitedly.

'Nothing really. We just talked. It turns out we have a lot in common.' Ginny said shyly. Hermione smiled brilliantly.

'You so have to tell me what happens when it does.' She said. Ginny just blushed and nodded, and then turned back to her breakfast.

'I am so going to set you two up.' Hermione muttered, but Ginny still heard it.

'What? You are so not. We will get together when we want to thank you very much.' Ginny practically yelled.

'Calm down. All I'm saying is that you need to do something about it before he goes off somewhere else, or doesn't make a move. Now go!' Hermione said. She ushered the girl out the door of the Great Hall.

Little did either of them know, Draco and Blaise were having the same conversation.

'Would you bloody well just tell her that you love her, you idiot! Because if you don't, I'll tell her for you.' Draco whispered harshly. Blaise lowered his head to hide the blush coming up on his cheeks.

'Fine, fine, fine. I'll do it. But she might not even like me! How would you know?' Blaise asked. Draco rolled his eyes.

'In case you weren't listening last night, I have a girlfriend who is pregnant with my child. I think I know a bit more about girls than you do!' Draco hissed furiously.

'Fine, fine! Okay, you managed to get Hermione pregnant, whoop-de-doo. Anyone could do that. But how did you know that she liked you?' Blaise asked. Draco had to roll his eyes again. The boy was just being plain stupid.

'I know, because I took a chance. I had to start it, by becoming friends with her and the rest of her friends. You already have that advantage. She likes you. It's plain for the world other than you two to see it. Make a mover already!' Draco insisted.

'Fine, tomorrow. That way we have the whole weekend.' Blaise said.

'Good. Now come on, we have to get to class.' Draco said, forcing the boy out of his seat and through the Great Halls' massive doors. They got their books and Blaise and Draco met Hermione down in the History of Magic classroom.

'Ready to fall asleep Blaise?' Draco asked his best mate with an amused glint in his eyes.

'Indubitably, old chap.' Blaise said. Hermione just rolled her eyes and hit Draco's arm.

'What? I can't help that his class is so boring!' Draco exclaimed.

'Yeah, yeah. Come on you two, let's grab our seats.' Hermione said.

'Hey, where are Harry and Ron?' Blaise asked.

'I'm not sure, they weren't in Gryffindor Tower.' Hermione answered, sitting beside Draco at the front of the class and Blaise sat behind them.

Soon afterwards, Ron and Harry entered with Sierra and Pansy in tow. Hermione turned around with Draco and Blaise and they all raised an eyebrow at them. Harry and Ron just smiled broadly and Sierra and Pansy just grinned.

'Where have you guys been? I couldn't find you in Gryffindor Tower!' Hermione exclaimed. Harry and Ron grinned sheepishly.

'Well, we brought all of our stuff down with us. To breakfast, you know? Except you were talking to Ginny, so you wouldn't have noticed, and then, when you walked off to get your stuff, we just met up with Sierra and Pansy and, well, walked around for a while.' Harry said. Hermione rolled her eyes and turned back to the front. Draco and Blaise just shook their heads and grinned at the boys before following Hermione's lead.

With that, Professor Binns floated into the classroom and started his lecture from the textbook. Hermione instantly started taking notes and Draco just laid his head down on his desk and turned it to look at Hermione.

_She looks so cute when she's concentrating._ Draco mused. He smiled to himself at the thought. _I love her so much._

Class passed rather quickly for Draco, though, Hermione did have to wake him up a couple of times. Once he sat up at lightening bolt speed and rubbed his eyes, trying to wake up some more.

'What? What happened?' Draco asked wearily.

'Mr. Molfit, if you would please keep quiet while I'm in the middle of my lecture, thank you.' Binns had droned at the time and Draco turned red. Hermione had giggled and continued taking notes, smiling all the while, causing Draco to shoot her playful glares. This little development had only made Hermione giggle more.

On their way out of the classroom, Hermione kissed Draco on the cheek and smiled up at him cheekily.

'You were so cute before; when you woke up.' She said. Draco just gave her annoyed look and started to grip her tighter. Hermione just laughed some more.

'That was pretty funny, Draco.' Harry said. His arm was around Sierra and was laughing at Draco.

Draco himself looked at his friends with mock hurt.

'What is this? Gang up on Draco day?' He asked. They just laughed some more and walked to their break out in the courtyard; then, to their next class, Transfiguration.

Again, Transfiguration went by quickly, but without some weird things happening. They were supposed to be transfiguring a wombat into a butterfly, and many people's results turned out to be rather interesting. Seamus Finnegan turned his wombat into a rather large, hairy, brown butterfly with rather ugly looking wings and a face. This scared that bajesus out of everyone in the classroom, and McGonagall had to get rid of the thing before the whole class got out of control.

In the end, only Hermione, Draco and, surprisingly, Harry, were able to successful in turning their wombat into a butterfly. For this, they got ten points each.

'Well, that was a successful class.' Draco sighed. 'What now?' Draco yawned hugely and wrapped his arms around Hermione. She sighed and wrapped her arms around him again.

'Hmm, I think it's Defence.' She replied, resting her head on his shoulder as they walked.

'Good, at least it's not some crappy subject.' Draco said, kissing the top of her head and pulled his arms back, taking her hand instead.

'Let's have some fun with Lupin.' Draco said, leading the way with Hermione following.

After an interesting class with Professor Lupin, they made their way to dinner and ate what they could. After, they split their separate ways, half to Gryffindor, and half to Slytherin and they fell asleep almost immediately.

The next morning, they all got up and went down to the Great Hall for breakfast, then met up outside in the Entrance Hall. Ginny would be coming with the sixth years as her own friends said that they couldn't afford to go with all their homework. Blaise was incredibly happy about this. He hadn't got the chance to ask her to come with him the night before, so to him, this was brilliant.

'Come on everyone, let's get going.' Draco said, winking at Blaise and taking Hermione's arm, leading her out into the chilly air.

Blaise caught Ginny's arm before she left though, and she shot him a questioning look. Blaise just smiled at her and held a finger to his mouth. Ginny still looked at him questioningly. When the others were out of earshot, he turned to her and suddenly went bright red.

'What's wrong Blaise?' Ginny asked concernedly. Blaise opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, before being able to get out what he wanted to say.

'Would-would you like to spend the day with me?' He asked quietly. So quietly, in fact, that Ginny only just heard it. But she did, and her face lit up brilliantly.

'Of course I will!' Ginny exclaimed, and hugged him tightly. Blaise got over his shock quickly and hugged her back. Blaise broke the hug and took her hand, and lead the way into Hogsmeade.

In the small village, they visited all the shops, buying things here and there and generally having fun. Blaise soon got over his nervousness about going on the date with Ginny and started acting like he usually did around her.

Little did either of them know, they were being followed by their match-making friends.

Draco and Hermione hid behind a pillar and watched as their friends gave each other goo-goo eyes. Draco turned to his girlfriend.

'We aren't that bad, are we?' He asked. Hermione just giggled and kept watching.

'No, I don't think we are. Or if we are, I certainly haven't been told about it.' She answered him in a whisper. Draco turned back to watching Blaise and Ginny also.

After about five hours of "friend-watching", the couple decided to go to the Three Broomsticks for a drink of Butterbeer before heading back up to the castle, because Hermione was starting to get tired.

'Do you want me to carry you?' Draco asked. Hermione laughed and leaned into his embrace. Draco had his arm around her.

'No, I think I can walk up to the castle by myself, Draco.' She said. Draco pouted slightly and Hermione laughed again. Draco was determined though, he swept Hermione from her feet and she squealed with surprise.

'Draco! Put me down, now!' She squeaked. Draco just laughed and continued to carry her inside.

'Draco! Stop!' She yelled. He finally put her down as the reached the Entrance Hall, though he didn't let her go too far. When on the ground, he pulled her to him and kissed her sweetly. Hermione returned the kiss, which soon got more and more passionate.

Soon enough, Draco had Hermione pinned to a wall.

When he pulled away, both were breathing deeply and a little out of breath. Hermione smiled up at him.

'You haven't kissed me like that in along time.' She said, and kissed his neck gently and wrapping her arms around his neck tighter. Draco wrapped his own arms firmer around her.

'Should I do it more often?' He asked her quietly. Hermione groaned her response and Draco smirked. Jeez, he hadn't done that in a while.

Suddenly, they heard a moan and gasp from around the corner, and it immediately piqued both their interests. Draco let go of Hermione and they quietly tip-toed down the end of the corridor and looked around it curiously.

What they saw made them gasp and their eyes to widen significantly.

Ginny and Blaise were snogging rather furiously not too far away from where they were standing.

Draco put his hand behind him and pushed Hermione back without saying a word. She complied and they walked up another direction to the Great Hall. Hermione burst out giggling soon after. Draco shot her a strange look.

'What are you laughing about? Blaise is most likely going to be killed if Ron finds out.' Draco said. Hermione calmed down some and looked at him smiling.

'Well, I was just thinking about the look on Ron's face and burst out laughing. It was hilarious.' Hermione said. Draco just smiled at her. Just then, as if by some horrible coincidence, Ron and Pansy walked in, just a rather loud groan came from down the corridor. Both looked that way in surprise and made to go over there.

Draco and Hermione exchanged horror-filled looks and ran over to them. They grasped their arms and pulled them in the opposite direction. Ron and Pansy gaped at them and started to try and talk, but Hermione and Draco slapped hands over their mouth and dragged in the direction of the Great Hall.

When inside, they let their friends go and they breathed heavily.

'Why did the bloody hell did you do that?' Ron asked.

Hermione and Draco exchanged looks again.

'Trust me, you don't want to know.' Draco said. Pansy and Ron gave up after they said that and Ginny and Blaise walked in holding hands and slightly red in the face, but talking amiably. Draco and Hermione turned slightly red and made an excuse to leave, saying they were hungry, wished everyone goodbye and went to their tables. It was now Ginny, Blaise, Ron and Pansy's turn to exchange confused looks.

Harry and Sierra came in the door soon after and they all sat down for lunch. When Ginny got to the table and sat down beside Hermione, she broke into giggles. Ginny shot her a look and Hermione calmed down slightly.

'Did you have fun in the corridor?' Hermione asked and laughed again as Ginny went wide-eyed and extremely red. Hermione burst into giggles again and Ginny shoved her hand over her mouth looked around dramatically, checking to see if anyone was watching.

'Yes, in fact I did. Oh you and Draco were the couple around the corner from us snogging the daylights out of each other. I should have known.' Ginny whispered back. Hermione just smirked and didn't turn red at all and rolled her eyes.

'I could have told you that without you having to ask about it. You should be thanking Draco and me too. We saved Blaise' life by pulling Pansy and Ron into the Great Hall before they caught you two at it in the corridor. He would have died for sure.' Hermione said seriously. Ginny went as bright as her hair at the mention of her brother nearly finding out about her and Blaise in the corridor.

'Thanks.' Ginny muttered. Hermione grinned again and leaned in conspiratorially.

'So, how was it?' She asked. Ginny grinned brilliantly and told Hermione all about how she and Blaise walked and talked, all the while holding hands, and wrapped in each others embrace. A couple of times Hermione interrupted with an, "Awww", or a sniffle, or a giggle. Ginny just went a brighter red and ended in a dead whisper with what happened in the corridor. Hermione ended in all out laughter. The others looked at her oddly, but she shook her head and waved her hand, dismissing their questioning looks.

'So, it's official, there is such thing as Blaise and Ginny?' Hermione whispered to her, leaning in conspiratorially. Ginny blushed lightly and nodded. Hermione squealed and hugged Ginny tightly. Ginny giggled and hugged her back just as tight. Across the other side of the room, their boyfriends were talking about much the same thing.

'So, you and Ginny are, you know?' Draco asked. Blaise all of a sudden went red and nodded to his plate. Draco laughed.

'Since when have you been shy about going out with anyone?' Draco asked.

'Since I love this one.' Blaise whispered harshly. Draco raised his eyebrows and gave him a questioning look. How Blaise hated that look.

'Yes, Draco, I love her. I never thought that I could love anyone, but I love her.' Blaise got that dreamy smile on his face that Draco had often seen on that Ravenclaw girl, Looney Lovegood? It was something like that anyway.

'Aww isn't that just sentimental.' Draco teased, smirking at him. Blaise punched him in the arm and they both laughed.

'You can't say much lover boy. Whenever Hermione's around you go all gaga eyes.' Blaise tormented. Draco had that stupid little half-smile on his face that he always had when someone mentioned Hermione's name.

'See, you can't even stop smiling when someone says her name.' He added. Draco gave him a half-hearted glare.

'Ginny.' He said. Blaise broke into a huge smile and Draco smirked at him again.

'You have my problem. It must be love.' He said. Blaise nodded, still smiling dumbly. Draco just shook his head and chuckled.

'We are in so deep.' He muttered. Blaise laughed too and shook his head.

'Yep, and there's nothing we can do about it.' Blaise said.

'At least you don't _have_ to get her pregnant.' Draco muttered under his breath. Blaise cringed.

'Yeah, you got the short end of the stick there, mate.' He said patting Draco's back.

'Ah, it's not that bad. I love kids. I want to better for whatever children than my dad did for me. I'll love my children.' Draco said with a small smile. Blaise patted him on the back again and continued eating.

A/N: Putting chapters up makes me so happy, and so do the reviews, so, here are my lovely reviewers (This is for Chapter 24 and your opinions on the sequel):

cherryblossom

moonqueen

Marla1

HJGrangerRocks

Daisy-Diadem

spikeecat

Hermione-Loves-Ron16311

Sister to the Dark Lord

bestavvie

DracoFan2284

HermioneGrangerGirl (If I spelt your name wrong, please tell me, I wrote it in my notebook funny and now I can't read it!)

Val B.

my dirty little secret08

jae's tiny dancer

aquarius89

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LibraryChild

Lya Darkfury

xxxMione-n-Georgiexxx

The Queen of Confusion

Thanks so much guys! I love you all! (On a purely professional level, of course!) Please review everyone!


	26. Chapter Twenty Six

A/N: Hey everyone! I am so sorry for such a long wait, but I had this chapter half way done when I went on a two and a half week trip to Italy! Yay! I had planned on this coming out before then, but I just wasn't able to. Sorry again! Please enjoy the chapter and review!

**Chapter Twenty-Six: Hormones**

The next morning, Harry, Ron and Hermione made their way down to the Great Hall, only to hear sounds coming from around the corner. Hermione knew who it was at once and stepped out in front of the boys, holding up her hands.

'Guys, guys, why don't we avoid this area, you know, go around another way to the Great Hall?' Hermione asked nervously, throwing looks over her shoulder constantly. Harry and Ron raised their eyebrows at her and kept walking. She tried to make them stop, in the end, she had to grab both their arms and march them down the other end.

'Hermione! What the hell?' Ron yelled. Hermione only had one thought in her head, _at least now they will know how close they came to Ron seeing them._

'We can't go down that way.' She said simply, hoping it would be a good enough reason; but she underestimated her friends.

'Why?' Ron asked, 'that seems like the most stupid thing ever. Look, I'm hungry, and that's the quickest way to the Great Hall.' Ron said. He pulled away from Hermione and started down the hall again. Hermione gasped and pulled Harry's arm, for he had started to walk away too.

'Harry! Ginny and Blaise are the ones making all those noises around the corner!' Hermione hissed at him. Harry's eyes went as wide as saucers and his mouth fell open.

'Shit!' Harry whispered. Hermione nodded furiously and they both took off after Ron.

'Ron!' Harry yelled as the boy rounded the corridor and stopped dead. From what Hermione and Harry could see Ron was just as red as his hair.

Hermione and Harry stopped right beside him, both completely out of breath. Harry looked up and was nearly transfixed by the sight of Ginny and Blaise going at it the way they were. Hermione, who was much more conservative of their privacy than the boys, averted her eyes and focused her attentions on first waking up Harry, who was quick to break out of his stupor, then Ron, who was much harder.

When he did break out of it though, he exploded.

'GINEVRA WEASLEY!!' He screamed. Hermione and Harry winced and blocked their ears. When they looked up though, they noticed that Ginny and Blaise couldn't hear Ron. Ginny, being the clever one she was, probably put a spell around them that didn't allow them to hear anyone, but they can hear them. That was the one flaw in the spell. Hermione noticed and started giggling. That was definitely the wrong thing to do.

'What the hell Hermione! How can you be laughing at a time like this! That bastard has his hands all over my sister!' Ron yelled. Hermione rolled her eyes, shot him a look and put her hands on her hips.

'Ronald Weasley, if Ginny didn't want Blaise all over her, then she wouldn't let him. She loves him, Ron. Get over your stupid big brother complex and let her live her own life!' Hermione ended in a scream and marched off down the hall, on a beeline for the Great Hall.

Harry even shot Ron a look.

'You really shouldn't have got a pregnant Hermione angry. She's bad enough at her time of the month, let alone now, when she's pregnant.' Harry said.

'He has his hands on my sister!' Ron yelled.

'Calm down, Ron! Hermione has a point you know, if Ginny didn't want Blaise touching her, she wouldn't let him. Come on, let's go down to the Great Hall, I'm starved and I need to talk to Hermione. I'll try and calm her down. Draco will probably do a better job, but I'll have a try.' Harry said, walking away and leaving Ron standing there fuming with Ginny and Blaise standing there behind him, still not noticing that anyone was in the hallway.

Soon after though, Ron left too, and headed for the Great Hall.

As for Hermione, once she entered the Great Hall from leaving Ron and Harry behind, she walked angrily over to the Slytherin Table and up behind Draco. He looked up at his beloved with curious eyes.

'What's wrong, love? You look angry.' He said compassionately. Hermione huffed and sat down on his lap, resting her head on his shoulder and wrapping her arms around his middle. Draco kissed the top of her head and wrapped his arms around her too.

'Alright, what happened?' He asked her. He noticed some of the Slytherins shooting Hermione glares, and he glared right back at them, who then cowered and went back to eating their breakfast.

'Ron saw Ginny and Blaise snogging in the hall, and when I noticed that Ginny had put a spell around the place that meant that she and Blaise couldn't hear anyone, but we could hear them. Then, when I laughed at how smart Ginny was, he rounded on me and started yelling at me about how Blaise had his hands on his sister, so I pointed out to him that Ginny wouldn't let Blaise touch her if she didn't want him to and that he should drop the big brother complex he has and stomped off.' She explained. Draco knew she was crying about it from the wet patches he could feel on his shirt.

'Shh, don't worry. Ron's just upset that Ginny would let someone touch her like that. You can't blame him; she is the youngest in the family, and the only girl, so he does have a right. But it wasn't right of him to yell at you like that. You were only sticking up for your friend. You obviously know a lot more about Ginny's love life than he does. But you have to remember that Ginny is his sister, and he won't take kindly to other boys, or men, when she's older, touching her.' Draco explained. He felt Hermione nod into his shirt and he hugged her tighter to his body and kissed the top of her head again, sighing.

'He just cares about her, as do you, I don't doubt that, but he is her brother. He considers it his job to protect his only sister, probably the same as the rest of his brothers. They want to see their sister happy, yes, but they won't like to see her with men, the way that Ron saw Ginny and Blaise. Okay?' He said. Hermione nodded again and hugged him tighter.

'Are you okay, now?' Draco asked tenderly. Hermione looked up and nodded, and Draco wiped the tears from her eyes and cheeks with the pad of his thumb, before Hermione got up from his lap and smiled at him. Draco smiled back and brought her face down for a quick, sweet kiss, before Hermione smiled again and walked over to the Gryffindor table to grab breakfast.

By this time, Harry had reached the table and was helping himself to his own breakfast when Hermione walked up. She sat down opposite him and started to pick at her food. Harry took a moment before looking up at her and caught her eyes.

'Are you alright Hermione?' He asked her. She smiled at him weakly and looked back down at her food again.

'I'm okay, Ron just annoys me the way he turns his anger on one of us when he's angry with someone else.' Hermione complained. Harry chuckled.

'You know, we could always just get Pansy and him in the same room, lock it and he'd come out happier.' He joked. Hermione smiled up at him and laughed lightly.

'We could, but then he would see Ginny and Blaise again and go back to being his usual angry self.' Hermione retorted.

'You are so negative.' Harry said. Then he looked up as the doors to the Great Hall opened again and Ron walked in. He swallowed hard and faced back to Hermione.

'Don't look now, but the King of anger himself is coming this way.' Harry said. Hermione groaned, but just kept picking at her food. She felt Ron sit down beside her, but she didn't say a word. Ron sighed and looked at her.

'Look, Hermione, I'm sorry I snapped and yelled at you back there. I was just angry at seeing Ginny and Blaise like that, right in front of me. Forgive me?' He asked hopefully. Hermione sighed and smiled up at him.

'I can't stay angry at you, Ron. Yes, I forgive you.' Hermione said. Ron smiled really brightly and they hugged, before breaking off and eating breakfast.

About ten minutes later, Ginny and Blaise walked in, red in the face and a little scruffy. Hermione saw them and started giggling. Harry looked up and choked on his pumpkin juice and Ron looked up and turned a brilliant red. He saw them kiss gently, before Ginny turned to the Gryffindor table smiling and Blaise turned to the Slytherin table smiling. When Ginny saw Ron though, all happiness melted out of her. She looked wearily at them and walked over slightly embarrassedly. Ginny sat down next to Harry as she looked from her brothers' red, angry face, which was looking down at this plate while attacking his food angrily, to Hermione, who was looking down at her plate and giggling silently. Ginny shot her a look.

'What's wrong with you?' Ginny asked.

'Don't worry; I'll talk to you about it later.' Hermione said. Ginny just rolled her eyes and continued to eat. They sat in awkward silence for the rest of the meal. Ron was still fuming, but he didn't want to make a scene in front of the whole school.

Blaise and Draco watched the tense silence over at the Gryffindor table; Draco with amusement, and Blaise with fear.

'Oh shit. I am going to get killed. I can just tell that he saw us in the corridor when he walked down here.' Blaise was twisting his hands in fear and was looking around worriedly. Draco watched the boy with amusement, seeing just how much he worried about Ron meeting him in the corridor.

'Don't worry about it, mate. Ron will come around eventually. You guys are friends, and if he wants to hang around Pansy, he needs to hang around you too, and Pansy won't let him hurt you.' Draco assured. Blaise still looked worried though. Draco smiled and shook his head.

'Come on, let's get to class. Potions first.' He said, getting up out of his chair and pulled Blaise with him. They walked over to the Gryffindors with Draco in the lead and Blaise walked along awkwardly behind him.

When they reached them, Draco touched Hermione on the shoulder and kissed her cheek.

'Ready for class, love?' He asked. Hermione grinned up at him and nodded.

'Yeah, let's-' Hermione started to say, and then she saw Blaise standing behind him and got up in a hurry. She leaned in closer to Draco and whispered in his ear harshly.

'Ron is about ten seconds off killing Blaise in front of the whole school. Why did you bring him over here?' Draco looked at her apologetically and held her waist. Hermione still didn't look all that impressed though. Draco sighed.

'I didn't exactly tell him to follow me, he could have waited somewhere safer, like outside, but he didn't, that's not my fault.' Draco whispered back to her. Hermione shook her head and picked up her bag.

'I'll see you guys later. I'm going to head off to class now.' She told the others. She took Draco's hand, walking away. On the way, she grabbed Blaise's arm and pulled him towards the door along with Draco.

'Why did you follow, Blaise? You know that Ron is going to blow up on you and it's only a matter of time until he does. You're just lucky that he didn't see you and was concentrating on killing his already dead food.' She said, pulling them along. Draco and Blaise flinched.

'We really shouldn't get her angry when she's pregnant.' Blaise muttered to Draco, who nodded.

'I heard that Blaise, and Draco, if you say one word about it, I'm not coming anywhere near you for a week; baby, or not.' Hermione added. Draco pulled Hermione's hand and she fell flush against him. He snaked his arms around her waist and kissed her neck tenderly.

'You can't stay away for that long. You'd die.' He whispered huskily in her ear. Hermione felt her breath catch, but she knew that she couldn't show Draco that he was getting to her. She rolled her eyes and pulled his arms away from her.

'You aren't getting through to me Draco Malfoy. And yes, I can stay away from you for a week.' She said, and kept walking. She had let go of Blaise when Draco had pulled her to him, so she kept walking without her hold on either of them.

Draco smirked and walked up behind her. He put his arm around her and rested it on her hip. Hermione rolled her eyes at him again, and took his hand in hers.

'Fine, I can't live without you for more than a couple of moments. Happy now?' She asked. Draco smirked and kissed her passionately.

'Yes. I can't live without you either.' He said. Hermione smiled and they both walked off to Potions, with Blaise walking behind them, shaking his head.

-

At the end of the day, Ron, Harry, Hermione, Draco, Pansy and Sierra all walked down the hallway towards dinner, after just having dropped their stuff off at their rooms. They all laughed and talked in their own conversations when Hermione and Draco stopped dead. They turned pale and their eyes went wide.

The others noticed and looked back at them. They looked like statues to everyone else. That was when Sierra heard it too. She also stopped and turned pale with wide eyes. Harry looked at them all confused, but then he also heard it.

Luckily, Ron and Pansy were too hooked up in talking to each other to notice what the noise was coming around the corner.

'Oh no, not another repeat of this morning.' Hermione muttered. This outburst broke Draco out of his stupor and he turned to Hermione.

'We have to get Ron out of here.' He muttered. Hermione nodded and they dragged Sierra and Harry back to the universe of the living and told them of their half-formed plan. They nodded and turned back to Ron and Pansy, who, thankfully, had stopped walking to talk.

'Hey, guys, I want to check something around the other way to the Great Hall. The others are coming, you should too.' Draco called. He hoped beyond all belief that Ginny and Blaise could hear and were running off to the Great Hall.

As Ron and Draco talked about what Draco had to look at, Hermione passed beside them and looked around the corner, spying Ginny and Blaise still in the embrace. She shook her head and realised that she should have told Ginny that her spell was crap.

Meanwhile, Draco was doing a very bad job at convincing Ron and Pansy to follow them.

'What do you have to go back for? I mean, you always have everything with you. You never forget anything. Hermione has had a bad influence on you.' Ron said. Draco snatched a quick look at Hermione and saw her roll her eyes around the corner. He knew instantly that the other two hadn't heard them. He started to think quickly.

'Well, on a wall somewhere, I saw something that looked a little suspicious. Come and have a look if you don't believe me.' He said. He knew from experience that the golden trio was very curious, sometimes too curious for their own good.

Ron gave Draco an odd look and started to back slightly down the hall. Most people thought that Ron was stupid, point is, he was just plain lazy. He knew that they were trying to keep him from seeing something, and he would find out what. Somehow, he had the idea that it had something to do with Ginny and Blaise. He really needed to know.

Draco saw at once that Ron was heading back towards the corridor where Ginny and Blaise were snogging. Ron was just about to bump into Hermione when she ran out of the way.

'Ron, no-' Draco called, but Ron turned around and looked down the corridor. You could see from behind that his face had gone red, as well as the back of his neck and his ears. Hermione started to back away from him slowly, as she could feel that he was about to blow. So could the others and they started to back away too. Pansy walked up quietly behind Ron and took his arm, but he shook himself out of her grasp and walked forward. Draco, Hermione, Pansy, Harry and Sierra all watched in horror as Ron went up and tapped Blaise on the shoulder. Hermione silently took down the spell that Ginny had cast, allowing noise to reach their ears. In the process, she cast a silencing spell around them so that they couldn't hear Ron yelling. And that is exactly what he did.

'BLAISE ZABINI, HOW DARE YOU TOUCH MY SISTER!!' He screamed. None of them could hear him, but judging by the look on Ginny, Blaise and Ron's face, it was bad. They all winced and Hermione buried her head in Draco's shoulder. Draco just had a sad look on his face and took her into his arms.

'He had to find out at some point. I just wish that it wasn't so bad.' He said. Hermione nodded her head into his shoulder.

Blaise stood there, absolutely speechless; but Ginny had turned red in anger at his outburst, and slapped him across the face so hard that his head swung around sharply.

The ones, who couldn't hear, winced as she struck him.

'That would have hurt.' Harry muttered under his breath. They all nodded in agreement.

'Ronald Weasley, you have no right to say what anyone is supposed to do with me! I'm old enough to decide that for myself thank you very much!' Ginny screamed back at him. Ron turned pale and swallowed deeply.

'I don't want any boy touching my little sister! Including my friends!' At this, Ron shot a particularly nasty glare at Blaise, who withered under his stare.

'I don't care what you think. I can make my own decisions!' She yelled.

'You're my younger sister! I'm always going to protect you no matter what!' Ron yelled back. He had now gained some colour on his face, except for the huge red mark that Ginny had given him.

'Well, thanks, but I don't need your protection! I get protection from all of my stupid brothers, but that only makes me want to do it more! Don't you see? I hate the way you all fawn over me and try to take control over my life just because I'm your only sister! My life is mine and _you_ have no say in it!' She screamed. Ron went bright red after she finished and tried to speak a couple of times, but by then she had already stormed off.

Hermione looked after her as Draco took down the silencing charm. He walked over to Blaise and Harry walked over to Ron.

Blaise looked at Ron and smiled apologetically.

'I'm sorry Ron. I probably should have asked you if I could see your sister first. I really didn't think you'd be so protective of her. I can see why though. Every guy in Hogwarts is after her. I'm sorry mate.' Ron just shook his head and looked longingly after his sister.

'I shouldn't have gotten so angry. She won't talk to me ever again now.' He said sadly. Draco shook his head.

'She'll get over it mate. I know she will. She can't stay angry at her brother for too long. I know she can't. It wouldn't be in her nature. She might hold a grudge against you for a long time, and do things to spite you, but she'll forgive you and your actions eventually. You just need to show her that you don't mind that she has boyfriends or male friends as much as you used to. Show her that you can be happy with whoever she chooses.' Draco said. Ron nodded again and watched as Hermione, Pansy and Sierra walked up.

'I'm going to find Ginny and try to calm her down. So far, she has always calmed down I talk to her, but I've never seen her blow up so badly. We'll just see what happens.' Hermione said. They nodded, apart from Ron, who only stood still, with tears gleaming in his eyes.

Hermione gave Draco a small kiss on the cheek and walked off, leaving them all to comfort Ron.

Pansy put her arms around Ron and rested her head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arms around her too. Draco patted both Blaise and Ron on the back and Sierra put her arms around Harry, who returned the gesture.

'Don't worry mate, everything will blow over sooner or later.' Harry said, putting his hand on Ron's shoulder. Ron shook his head from its place on Pansy's shoulder.

'Yeah, way later.' He muttered sadly. Harry shook his own head at the boy and closed his eyes.

'I'm going to go back to the Room of Requirement. I think I might avoid the Common Room for the time being until the scene calms down somewhat. I'll see you guys later.' He said. They all nodded to him and he gave Sierra a questioning look and she nodded, so they walked off to the rarely known room.

'Don't worry about it mate. If you show Ginny that your friends and still talking to Blaise, then everything should be fine again. I hope.' Draco muttered to himself that last part. He didn't want Ron to hear it. He wanted to fill the boy with hope, not fill him with discourage.

Meanwhile, with Draco trying to make Ron feel better, Hermione was trying to calm Ginny down. She was in such a rage. Her anger was just about to make the windows shake.

'Ginny, he just wants to look out for you! I would be angry if I was in your position too, that's why I'm thanking God that I don't have any other siblings, but really, you can't blame him for being protective of his only sister! Let alone the fact that you're the youngest in the family. Your brothers will always try and protect you, whether you want them to or not. Just, try to get used to them, they aren't going to change, just because you don't like it. It's a big brother thing. Ron does the same to me. So does Harry. They do it to me all the time. I'm amazed they let Draco anywhere near me! You just have to live with it. I have! Try not to worry so much.' Hermione tried.

Ginny plonked herself on the bed grumpily.

'I hate it though! I can make up my own mind about who I want to date and who I wish to be with! I love Blaise! Ron just doesn't see that.' She complained.

'You didn't see his face after you left.' Hermione said softly. Ginny looked up at her with a quizzical look on her face. Hermione sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose a bit before looking up sadly into Ginny's eyes.

'He looked heartbroken at what you said to him before you left. It looked like his heart had snapped in half, now he doesn't think that you'll ever talk to him again. And when I say never, I mean, not again, literally, in your life. He even thinks you'll disown him. That was his basic point. He likes to think he has some sway in your life, and he likes to think that his say on things in anyone's life is taken into account. He just wants you to know that he always wants you to stay his little sister, the one he's watched grow up, and the one he loves with all of his heart. I don't think he loves any of his siblings more than he does you. You have to realise that.' Hermione spoke softly, but determinedly.

Ginny's head drooped and she put it in her hands.

'He thinks I hate him. Really, truly, hate him, doesn't he?' She said. Hermione shook her head.

'No! Well, kind of. He still thinks you love him. Just, not as much as you did before.' Hermione said softly. She could see the tears starting to shine in Ginny's eyes and took the younger girl in her arms.

'Just show him that you still love him. I think that's the best thing that you could do. And when I left, Ron and Blaise were talking civilly. That's a start.' Hermione told her. By this time, Ginny was all out bawling on Hermione's shoulder. The older girl pulled a face over Ginny's shoulder, but soon changed it back.

'I don't - hick - want - hick - him to - hick- think that- hick - I hate him.' Ginny said, wiping the tears away from her eyes with the back of her hand. Hermione thought that she wouldn't have anymore tears left as they were all on her shoulder.

'Ginny, don't worry too much. I'm sure everything will turn out all right. Just talk to Ron, like a civilised person, and then things will be back to normal. You'll see.' Hermione said. Ginny pulled away and had shiny eyes because of the remaining tears in them. Hermione couldn't help but feel sorry for Ginny as she looked up at her like that.

Hermione sighed with a slight smile.

'Are you sure?' Ginny asked.

'Yes, I'm sure.' Hermione said, successfully cheering the younger girl up. Ginny smiled brightly and hugged Hermione tightly.

'Thanks Hermione, you're the best friend I could ever ask for.' She said. Hermione smiled warmly at her and Ginny looked at her in thought.

'You'll make a brilliant mother in a couple of months, I can tell.' She said. Hermione blushed lightly and looked down at her hands.

'I hope so. I wouldn't want to be a bad mother. That would be horrible. I wonder if Draco's going to be a good father.' She wondered aloud. Ginny giggled.

'I'm sure he will be. I can't see Draco being anything better.' She answered. Hermione smiled too.

'I know. I can't wait to be a mother, Gin. It just all seems so surreal.' She explained. She grinned at Hermione and patted her hand in a motherly way. Hermione chuckled.

'Everything will go along just fine. I promise.' She said. Hermione smiled back at the younger girl and sighed, before getting up off the couch.

'Well, we have to go and find a rather upset Ron and make him not upset.' Hermione said with a huge grin on her face as she pulled Ginny up and walked out the door, dragging the girl with her.

'Hermione, this is a stupid idea. Maybe we should wait until it calms down a bit, wait until tomorrow. That doesn't sound like a bad idea. I think I'll wait until tomorrow.' Ginny said, turning and trying to wrench her arm out of Hermione's grasp. This wasn't a good idea. Hermione was stubborn naturally, but in this case, she wanted all of this over and done with.

'Nope, we are putting a stop to this right now. If Ron isn't talked to today, he'll just go all depressed and even Pansy won't be able to break him out of it. So stop putting it off and get it over and done with.' Hermione said, still dragging the younger girl behind her.

Ginny just huffed the rest of the way. It was no good fighting with a pregnant Hermione. She would always win anyway.

They walked around for what seemed like hours before they found Ron sitting in a corner, with Blaise, Pansy and Draco sitting around him, trying to comfort the boy as he held his head in his hands.

When Ginny saw him, her heart broke. She hated seeing any of her brothers upset. But this was done by her own hand or mouth as it were.

She raced over to where her brother was sitting and wrapped her arms around him.

'Oh Ron. I'm so sorry I said all those mean things to you, but I really hate it when you blow up like that whenever I have a boyfriend. It's so stupid. You're friends with Blaise; you should trust him not to hurt me. Oh, Ron, I would never hate you, ever. You're my brother; my love for you is unconditional.' She told him. By this time, Ron had his arms around his sister too and had his face buried in her shoulder.

'I just don't like to think of any boy touching you. I trust him but my brotherly instincts for protecting my only sister keep getting in the way.' He said to her, pulling back and giving her a small smile.

Draco, Pansy and Blaise had backed away when Ginny had come to her brother, and were now standing a safe distance away.

Draco had his arms and Hermione from behind and his chin resting on her shoulder, while Blaise stood with his arms crossed leaning against the wall and Pansy was watching them both with fascination, but also had her arms crossed.

They watched for a bit of time while Ginny and Ron talked quietly to each other before Ron looked up and smiled at Blaise and beckoned him over. Blaise went over cautiously, and sat down beside Ginny. Ron gave him a thorough look.

'I give you permission to date and/or go out with my sister. But if you hurt her, you better watch out, you here me?' He said in a dangerous voice. Blaise just smiled at him and held out his hand for Ron to shake; which he took.

'Thanks mate. I promise I won't hurt her. If she wants to break it off, then she can do it, but I won't ever do it. Never have, never will.' He said. Ron nodded at him and all three of them got up. They headed over to where Draco, Hermione and Pansy, who were smiling brilliantly at them.

'So can we tell Harry that it should be cool for him to come back to them Common Room now?' Draco asked. Hermione, Blaise, Pansy and Ron laughed, but Ginny looked a tad confused.

'Why would Harry not go into the Common Room?' She asked. Hermione rolled her eyes.

'Because the Weasley temper is legendary and he didn't want to hear what would happen if it was multiplied by two.' She explained. Ginny grinned and took Blaise' hand.

'So where did he disappear to if he's not in the Common Room?' She asked. This time Draco rolled his eyes.

'He took Sierra to the Room of Requirement. I think I'll let those two come out on their own.' He said. They all laughed and made their way to dinner, only to find that everyone had already up and left.

'Damn. Why don't we head down to the kitchens? They should still have some food that they need to get rid of.' Draco said. They all agreed and made their way down to the kitchens instead.

Hermione tickled the pear and watched as it laughed, vibrated and turned into the handle they needed to get in.

Once in there, they found Harry and Sierra snogging on the bench. Quite passionately actually. Sierra was sitting on it, with Harry standing in between her legs on the ground, with his hands on either side of her hips.

When they saw this, Hermione and Ginny covered their eyes with mock disgust, Ron pulled a face, Blaise grinned and Draco rolled his eyes.

'We came in here to eat, not watch you two snog the living daylights out of each other.' Draco said from the door.

The noise of Draco speaking caused them to jump so far that Sierra fell off the bench and landed on Harry, who wasn't planning for it to happen, so they both landed on the floor with a thud.

The sight of them both on the floor was enough to put them all in good moods. All five of them roared with laughter at their friends' red faces. Draco only smiled slightly and raised an eyebrow at them.

'You'd think you'd find some where better to do that than the kitchen, where people try to eat and keep the food in their stomachs instead of throwing it back up.' Draco added. The others just kept laughing.

Harry hoisted Sierra up and then got up himself.

'Sorry Harry.' She muttered. Harry smiled at her and pulled her to his side.

'Don't worry about it love. I don't mind.' He said. Sierra smiled at him and put her arms around his waist.

'Shut up would you Draco. I've walked in on you and Hermione more times than you've walked in on me and Sierra.' Harry said. Hermione grinned.

'But that was just you, not everyone else with you.' She said. Harry shot her a playful glare.

'We just had dinner, when we came back from the Ron/Ginny fight, we walked down to the Great Hall instead, realising just after telling you that we were going to the ROR that we hadn't had dinner yet. When we got down there, however, we found the Hall deserted, so we came here instead.' Harry explained. They nodded and Draco told him what happened to them.

'So no more fighting then?' Harry asked when Draco was done. Ron and Ginny grinned.

'No Harry, no more fighting.' Ginny said. Harry grinned back at her and hugged the younger girl before clapping Ron on the back.

'Good, now I can come back to the Common Room and not have to put up with yelling coming from both directions.' He said. Hermione shot Ginny a look.

'Told you.' She commented. Ginny just rolled her eyes. Harry gave both of them confused looks, but shook his head and forgot about it.

'So you guys are staying to have dinner?' He asked them. They nodded in response.

'Well, we might make ourselves scarce. See you guys tomorrow.' He said, taking Sierra's hand and walking towards the door.

'See you guys!' Sierra said to them. They waved and said their goodbyes as the couple left the room. Draco caught the door just in time and stuck his head out of it.

'Harry, I want my cousin back in her dorm by midnight, I'll be sending Pansy to check.' He said down the corridor. Harry threw his head back and laughed.

'You got it, Draco.' He yelled over his shoulder as they walked away. Draco shut the door behind him and they all sat down to have dinner.

After a huge dinner (the house-elves over did themselves with the cooking as they always do and gave them WAY too much to eat.) they walked back to their respective common rooms and laid down to rest in their nice comfortable beds to have a good nights sleep.

A/N: Hey guys! Here are my reviews from my last chapter!

reader13

Ariah Kaylee Black

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aquarius89 (chapter one also)The Queen of ConfusionKat.1600LibraryChildA/N: Thanks for all your reviews and I can't wait to read the ones I get for this chapter! See you later guys!


	27. Chapter Twenty Seven

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry this chapter has been so late, but between Homework, Transition into year 10, going to Italy, end of year exams and studying, I really haven't had much time to be writing very much. Oh, and I've also been readinf Twilight! I absolutely love it! As you can probably tell from my new penname! Sorry I changed it without telling you! I'm just about to finish Breaking Dawn, which I don't think is all that bad actually. Heaps of people say it sucks, but I'm getting into it heaps. You people must be a tad crazy, or maybe it's just me. Yep, most likely just me. **

**Oh! I have exciting news! I should be bringing this story to a close and bringing out a sequel very soon, I hope. I'm going to need you guys to give me a title, the best one wins! Maybe you might want to start sending them in when the story comes out, but, hey, it's up to you. **

**Anyhoo, my band and I are performing at my school tomorrow for Orientation Day! Whooo! Anyone who doesn't know what that is, it's when the new kids for next year come to your school and see what life is going to be like in their new homerooms and such. It'll be so much fun meeting the little newbies! Hehe. **

**Oh well, I won't bore you any longer. I think this is the longest Author's Note I've ever written! Sorry again for not updating in so long! I hope you enjoy reading the next installment of: A Malfoy's Curse!**

**Chapter Twenty Seven**

The months passed by quickly, with little happening, other than a couple of mishaps in the classroom, people sneaking out after hours to the Room of Requirement, and other such things.

By this time, Hermione had to cast a spell on her stomach, so no one would know that she was pregnant. She was beginning to show quite a bit. She was sleeping more and going to bed earlier than normal. Draco was starting to get a bit worried, so he asked Madame Pomfrey about it during lunch, when Hermione was asleep in her dorm, and she told him that it was quite normal for her to be getting this tired.

It had started gaining on the Christmas holidays when Dumbledore made an announcement over dinner one night after a particularly long and hard day in class.

'Ladies and Gentlemen, can I have you attention please! I would like to make an announcement! Over these Christmas holidays, Hogwarts will be holding a Yule Ball!' Chatter immediately broke out amongst the students as they started to talk about dates, clothes, make-up, hair and all sorts of other things that go with a ball. They were all incredibly excited to say the least. It took Dumbledore five minutes to get them all to shut up again. 'Everyone! Please! Be quiet! Thank you.' He said when everyone had finally regained themselves. 'I would just like to mention that this ball is for fourth years and above,' he heard a collective groan from the younger years at the statement and chuckled to himself about it. 'Thank you! There will be a Hogsmeade trip for the older years this weekend to get everything that they may need. That is all.' Dumbledore said, sitting down and striking up a conversation with McGonagall, who was sitting next to him.

Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny all turned towards each other and grinned.

'Yes, this is the perfect opportunity to get Hermione a proper dress.' Ginny teased. Hermione hit the redhead playfully. They all laughed at the two before settling back down again.

'What do you think the Slytherins will say?' Harry asked glancing over at the Slytherin table. He could see all of them talking in whispers to each other as well.

'They should be cool with it. Why wouldn't they?' Hermione asked. She looked up just in time to see Draco shoot her a look. He winked at her, smiled, and only gave her enough time to return the gesture before turning back towards his friends.

'Oh well, we'll soon see.' Harry said, before settling in to eat the remainder of his dinner. The others followed suit, and Hermione and Ginny started talking about dress options.

When dinner was done, they waited by the doors of the Great Hall to catch up with their lovers before making their way outside.

'So, love, are you planning on going to the ball?' Draco asked Hermione once they were out in the Entrance Hall. He kissed her neck gently and turned her around in his arms as they came to a stand still.

Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him lightly on the lips.

'Do you want to?' She asked him. Draco smiled.

'Now what type of question is that? Why wouldn't I want to show off my beautiful girlfriend?' He said, fluttering kisses on her neck all the way up to her lips, which he kissed sweetly. Hermione giggled and hit him playfully on the shoulder.

'So are we going?' He asked her. Hermione pulled away from his ever attacking mouth, which had continued its assault on her neck. Draco pouted slightly and she laughed lightly at his ridiculous face.

'That face really doesn't look that good on you, and yes, I would love to go with you.' She answered. Draco put on a mock look of shock, before turning it into one of his faces that she hadn't seen in a long time. His superiority look, which now merely looked funny to her.

'I look sexy with any look on my face.' He said. Hermione giggled and kissed him sweetly, before hugging him tight.

'I have to go to bed now. I'm really tired. I'll see you tomorrow.' She said softly. Draco smiled down at her kindly and kissed her softly before letting her go.

'See you.' He whispered, before turning and walking down to Slytherin. Hermione walked slowly backwards with a small smile on her face until she couldn't see him anymore and turned to walk up the stairs, but still looked back down at the stairs where he had just disappeared moments before.

-

For the next few days, all anyone could talk about was the Christmas Ball. There was a huge thing for the girls, who all were waiting for the guys they liked to ask them out. Hermione and Ginny watched on with amusement as they saw all the girls in Hogwarts that were going to the ball walk around in huge groups and giggling every time a boy walked past that looked at them or not. Blaise had asked Ginny to go with him that morning at breakfast and Ginny had been smiling all day after.

Whereas Draco hadn't let go of Hermione at all; with four months left until the birth of his child, Draco was becoming even more protective of his girlfriend. He wouldn't let Hermione go anywhere alone, and he was always holding her, as if making sure that she was real and actually carrying his child. He kissed her often and constantly looked for her everywhere. Hermione thought it was endearing when he wasn't being annoying with it. Hermione wanted someone with her at all times anyway, just in case something happened. She didn't like being alone anymore anyway.

The weekend was upon them before they knew it and Ginny, Pansy, Hermione and Sierra all boarded the coaches that took them to Hogsmeade. The boys already had everything they needed, so they decided to spend the day playing Quidditch. Draco hadn't promised Hermione that he wouldn't worry too much; he said that he couldn't, but he'd try. Hermione had rolled her eyes and smiled slightly at his cheeky face before kissing him sweetly and heading off with the girls.

'So, where first?' Pansy asked when they got off the coach. They all looked at each other before Hermione spoke up.

'Why don't we try Gladrag's first? At least it's somewhere.' She said. The girls nodded, linked arms and made their way to the clothing shop laughing and talking loudly.

When they entered, they each went their separate ways and walked all over the shop. Ginny, Pansy and Sierra sometimes let out little squeaks when they found something they liked and Hermione giggled at them.

Ginny tried on a dress that was a very nice shade of light green. It didn't dip very low at the front, but did show a fair amount of cleavage. The back went down a fair way, but not so far that you could see her bum. It came to the middle of her back. It was floor length and flowed gracefully, just like the girl herself. It had green beads sewn just below her bust, going from one side of the dress to the other. All in all it was beautiful.

They all thought it was beautiful and Ginny decided to get it.

Pansy found a beautiful, strapless Royal blue dress that had a corseted bodice with silver detail along the top and winding its way down, thinning out until it stopped in the middle. The skirt of the dress wrapped around her waist and half doubled over, just enough to give the skirt a slit that went half way up her right thigh. It the dress was gorgeous and they all agreed on it.

Sierra and Hermione had a bit of a harder time finding something to wear. Neither of them liked especially what they saw. Sierra let out a couple of squeals at some of the dresses, she'd picked them up, twirled them around, before saying no and putting it back on the rack and moving on. It was really getting quite frustrating for the other three girls.

Hermione though, just didn't like anything she saw. She wanted something that would show her Gryffindor side, but something that Draco would utterly smirk at.

It took another two stores (after they had had lunch at the three broomsticks) before Sierra squealed with a delight they hadn't heard in any of the other shops. They all rushed over to her and looked at her twirl the dress around and look back at them, positively beaming. They all looked at the dress with appreciative eyes.

'Go try it on Sierra! I'm sure it fit like a glove!' Hermione said. The other three looked at her in a tad bit of confusion. Hermione rolled her eyes.

'It's a muggle saying. It means it will fit perfectly.' She explained. She distinctly heard Pansy mutter something like, "well you could have just said that", but she let it go. Instead, she turned Sierra around and pushed her in the direction of the changing rooms. Ginny and Pansy followed the two and stood outside as Sierra got changed and waited for her to come back out.

It took the girl two minutes and already the three outside were getting impatient.

'Hurry up, Sierra! We don't have all day!' Ginny called. They heard the sniggering come out of the room and then the door opened. Sierra walked out and did a bit of a twirl. That girl was not completely modest. She took a couple of poses while the others told her how great it looked.

The dress was emerald green, a colour that would match Harry's eyes perfectly. There was a part of the skirt at the front that was a darker green than the rest. The darker colour came down from a point in the middle of the bottom of the bodice and opened up at the end, looking like an upside down V. It was floor length and had a slit on the right leg that went from the middle of her thigh to the ground and was made of a beautiful satin. The top had a beautiful thick halter neck that held up the top of the dress. It looked like it was made just for her. It looked gorgeous on her.

'You should so get that Sierra! It looks amazing on you! Harry won't know what hit him.' Ginny smirked. Hermione and Pansy nodded enthusiastically. Sierra smiled and blushed slightly, but not enough to be too noticed.

Sierra nodded and walked back into the changing room to get back into her other clothes and they continued to walk around the store for Hermione's dress.

Hermione was about to give up. They didn't have much time left in town and would soon have to go back to the station to get the carriage back up to the school. She sighed and looked out the window. She only flashed a glance to it at first, but had to do a double-take. Draco was wandering the street, obviously looking for something or someone. Hermione furrowed her brow in confusion and walked to the front of the store and out into the cold December air. She took a couple of steps toward him and called out.

'Draco!'

He turned around abruptly and smiled brightly. He rushed up to her and kissed her sweetly before hugging her tightly.

'Hey, there you are. I've been looking for you all over the place.' Draco said, still holding her. Hermione pulled back a tad, but made sure she still had her arms around him and he still had his arms around her.

'What's wrong?' She asked, looking confused. She honestly had no idea why he would be here. A huge smile crossed his face.

'Have you found a dress yet?' He asked. Hermione looked at him in complete bewilderment and shook her head.

'No, I haven't been able to.' She answered slowly, shaking her head. If it was possible, Draco's smile got even bigger. He kissed her passionately and hugged her even tighter than before. Hermione was even more confused than normal.

'What's going on, Draco?' She asked. Draco smiled brilliantly at her.

'My mother sent you a dress just now. It's in my dorm, when you come back up to the school you can look at it. I didn't look, I promise, mother put what it was in a letter, that's how I know.' He said quickly. Hermione smiled and kissed him again.

'Thank you, Narcissa! She just solved my dress problem.' Hermione answered his questioning expression. 'I'm going to go back inside and tell the others; I'll be right back.' She said, before giving him another quick peck on the lips and rushing into the store.

'Hey guys.' She said was she was with them. They turned to her with curious expressions and questioning eyes.

'What's up Hermione? Why's Draco outside?' Sierra asked. Hermione let a smile appear in her face.

'Narcissa sent me a dress in the post just now, there's no need for us to shop for one anymore.' She explained. Pansy jumped up and down and clapped her hands.

'Oh my God, what does it look like? Tell all.' She said, just like it was the freshest piece of gossip.

'I don't know, it's in Draco's room at the moment, I'm going to go back up to the school and see it; do you want to come?' Hermione asked. The three nodded in excitement and Sierra paid for her dress before meeting up with the others outside in the street.

'Come on, let's go. I want to see this dress.' Ginny said as Sierra made it. They nodded excitedly and walked up to the station, where they caught the first carriage there up to the school.

When they were inside the castle, they split their separate ways; Draco and Sierra down to the dungeons to get the dress and Hermione, Ginny and Pansy to the Room of Requirement where they would meet up with the cousins to see what Narcissa had bought Hermione.

'I wonder what it's going to look like.' Pansy gushed as they walked up the stairs.

'I'm betting it will be red, green, or black.' Ginny mused. Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes.

'Whatever colour it is, I'm sure I'll like it anyway. Narcissa has excellent taste, so it should be nice.' She said. Ginny and Pansy rolled their eyes and again started talking about the possibilities of what the dress could look like and what Hermione would look like in it.

They got to the Room of Requirement and Hermione had to open the door because Ginny and Pansy were still talking about the dress possibilities.

They walked inside the room and waited until Draco and Sierra turned up again. This time, they had Ron, Harry and Blaise in tow.

Pansy jumped up when she saw Ron and into his arms, and Ginny made room on the couch for Blaise. Hermione got up and went to Draco, so Harry and Sierra took the seats that she occupied.

Draco was holding the immense, thin, square, white box and set it out on the floor. A couple of people groaned, but they all got up from their chairs and kneeled on the floor in a circle around the box.

Draco kept his arm locked around Hermione's waist and kneeled down in front of the box with everyone else. He gave Hermione a huge smile and gestured to it.

'Well, what are you waiting for, open it up!' Draco cried. The girls all encouraged her and the boys all looked up at her with anticipation lighting up their faces. Hermione grinned at them all before opening, very slowly as to annoy them all (she got a couple of groans of annoyance for it and a couple of hits on the arm and back of the head), the lid of the white box.

As she put the lid behind her, still slowly, but reverently slowly this time, she heard the squeals and the awed gasps come from the crowd sitting around it.

Hermione turned back around quickly and she stared with wide-eyed astonishment at the red satin that stared back at her. She silently and slowly (again) pulled the dress out the box it was confined to and stood up, pressing the cloth to her body.

The dress was made of a red satin, which simply shined in the light of the Room of Requirement. The bodice of the piece had golden sparkles covering it thickly at the top and faded down into none at the bottom. The top of the bodice was strapless and cut straight across, making it modest, like Hermione was looking for. The back of the dress plunged down to her waist, exposing most of her back, but she liked the look of it anyway. The skirt was floor length and simply flowed beautifully to the ground, making the dress look simple, but elegant.

Draco smiled up at her with appreciative eyes, and Hermione grinned back down at him, her eyes full of tears.

'It's beautiful. I can't believe she got this for me.' She whispered. Draco got up and hugged Hermione from behind, kissing her neck softly.

'Because she loves you, that's why she got it for you. She's going to be at the ball, so you better wear it.' He said teasingly. She laughed and Pansy held out her hands for the dress, so Hermione passed it to her before turning around and giving Draco and huge hug and kiss.

'I love it. I'll have to write her a thankyou letter.' She said. Draco laughed.

'The best thankyou you can give her is by wearing it. I reckon she'll start crying.' He said, smiling cheekily and snickering quietly. Then a thought suddenly occurred to Hermione.

'Your mother doesn't know I'm pregnant, does she?' She asked. Draco frowned before shaking his head.

'No, I don't think she does. _Lucius_,' he spat the name with malice. After what had happened, Draco refused to call him father, 'wouldn't have had the time to tell her, and I certainly haven't. Not that I don't think she should know!' He added hurriedly, seeing Hermione's expression, 'it's just that I think it would be better if we told her together. How about on the night of the ball, just before we leave, or she leaves, either one. I think she would like to hear it from both of us, together.' Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment.

'Yeah, I think that would be nice, both of us telling her. I think she'll be overjoyed.' She said, smiling beautifully. Hermione was amazed at how well she had taken to Narcissa. The two wear practically joined at the hip when together nowadays, yet in the past years, Hermione hated the woman with a passion, just as much as she had for son. Now, she had fallen for Draco Malfoy and had befriended his mother, all in such a short space of time.

Hermione had the thought that they had connected when Narcissa had helped her during her "stay" at Malfoy Manor. Or maybe it was the fact that she was saving her son from a most unfortunate death if he didn't produce an heir before the age of seventeen. She didn't know, but she was entirely grateful that the woman had taken to her.

She was sorry for Draco's failed relationship with his father though. She had never meant to break up his family. She still felt horrible about that. She didn't think that she could ever make it up to him, but she also didn't think that she had ever seen him smile or be so happy before. She loved the way he smiled, and the look he got in his eyes whenever they were alone together, the one of true passion and love, it took her breath away. She loved the way his face would simply light up when he saw her. She loved it all. It was what drew her to him; just those little subtleties that no one else would ever pick up about him but her. He might not notice, but she did.

Draco smiled at the distant look upon Hermione's face as she stared into the distance. He knew she was deep in thought, and he loved that look she got on her face when she wasn't in the world of the living, but in her own universe entirely. He loved when she bit her bottom lip in concentration or nervousness. He had seen her do it often when they had exams the year before, everyday he had seen it. He even loved the way her hair bounced and flowed as she ran, or walked. He loved running his hands through that beautiful mass of chocolate curls she had. He loved that her body and mind fit perfectly with his. It was like they were moulded for each other only. He loved how much she loved him.

'You really love it?' Draco asked her, gesturing to the dress. Hermione looked at it and looked back at him in confused shock.

'Of course I do, it's beautiful. I can't believe she would get me something this beautiful. I love it.' She answered softly. Draco smiled at her and kissed her lovingly until he heard a gasp come from Sierra. They both turned to look at her with confusion and surprise.

'What's going on?' Draco asked her. Sierra stared at Hermione in wonder.

'Aunt Narcissa has given you a Wucci original! Do you know how much they cost?' Ginny and Pansy gasped and went straight over to where Sierra sat with the dress in her hands appraisingly.

Draco groaned.

'That is the last thing you should be telling Hermione.' He muttered. Hermione herself was too shocked by the revelation to even give a reaction.

She knew what the brand was. She hadn't spent six years in the same dormitory as Parviti and Lavender for nothing.

'I can't accept something that expensive.' Hermione whispered. Draco looked at her.

'Mother won't be pleased if you don't. I told you that she gave me a letter with the dress, didn't I?' He asked. Hermione nodded. 'Yeah, well, she said for me to tell you that this is her present to you for saving my life. She obviously thinks my life is only this much to her.' Draco tried joking, but it was lost with the tears that slid down Hermione's cheek. He looked at her concernedly.

'What's wrong, love?'

'She'd do that for me?' Hermione asked in a whisper. Draco still looked a little confused.

'Of course she would. You're like her daughter already.' He told her. The others were still admiring the dress that Narcissa had given her.

Hermione smiled lightly and wrapped herself tighter in Draco's arms, just content watching them all stare and poke and prod the dress.

After a couple of hours admiring it, and getting Hermione to try it on (she looked spectacular, but Draco wouldn't look because he wanted it to be a surprise for him when the day of the dance came), they decided to call it time for dinner. They headed down after going to Gryffindor Tower to drop the dress off, and said goodbye to each other in the Great Hall before heading off to their tables.

'Hey Hermione,' Ginny started to ask as they piled their plates with food.

'Mmmm?' She questioned, raising her eyebrows and flashing a look her way before putting some food in her mouth.

'Well,' she said conspiratorially, 'I think we should mention something about the dress that Narcissa gave you in front of Lavender and Parviti. They'll flip!' Ginny was leaning over the table with that evil glint in her eyes that was never a good sign.

'We could, but that would be kind of rubbing it in their face that I have spectacular contacts, and I don't want to start any sort of feud between our own house.' Hermione began, but then she saw the dejected look on Ginny's face. She sighed and smiled. 'Fine, let's get them back.' Ginny grinned like an idiot for a second before leaning in to talk to Hermione.

'So, Hermione, tell me again about that dress that Narcissa bought for you?' She said, much too loudly than necessary, but they did gain the attention of Lavender and Parviti, who started listening intently to what was being said by the two girls.

'Oh, well, the dress is a very classy red colour, that totally brings out the Gryffindor in me. It's made of satin too. It has gold sparkles all over the bodice, thick at the top and draining to very little at the bottom. It is strapless and the back of it plunges right down to my waist. It's floor-length and is just so simply elegant that it was like it was made for me.' Hermione boasted. Normally she was never one to boast, but extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. Ginny looked at her with mock awe and fascination.

'What was that label again, I can't quite remember which one it was, there are so many!' Ginny asked. Hermione rolled her eyes and pretended that it wasn't much of a big deal.

'It's only a Wucci original. Nothing that major.' She said. At this she practically feel Parviti and Lavenders eyes pop out of their sockets, then they turned away and started talking about the possibilities. Hermione and Ginny saw this and slapped the backs of the hands together, then the front, grinning massively and going back to their dinner.

After finishing, Hermione, Ginny, Harry and Ron met up with Draco, Blaise, Sierra and Pansy outside in the Entrance Hall to saw good night. Just as she was about to turn away and head up the stairs, she felt something in her stomach. She hunched over a bit, but felt nothing afterward. Her friends all turned back towards her with quizzical faces.

'Hermione, are you alright?' Harry asked concernedly. The Slytherins heard him ask and turned around to see Hermione clasping the banister. Draco was at her side in a spilt second.

'What's wrong, love?' He asked. Hermione just shook her head and continued to look down, her quick mind working through everything.

In her spare time, Hermione had read up on parenting and pregnancy as best she could. It turned out that she had skipped over most of the morning sickness, which she was entirely grateful for, and she was pretty certain that she had just felt the baby kick.

'Draco,' she whispered when she got her voice back. 'Draco, I think I just felt the baby kick.' Draco looked at her wide-eyed and put one of his hands on her stomach while the other tilted her face up towards his.

'Are you sure?' He asked back. Suddenly, he couldn't speak above a whisper either.

'I'm pretty damn sure.' She said. As she finished, she felt it again. He looked down at Hermione and he found her crying silent tears of happiness, a huge grin spread across her face.

Draco took the hand that was beneath her chin and wiped the tears off of her face with the pad on his thumb.

The others still gathered around at various distances away. They still had no idea what was going on with the couple.

Ginny approached first and put a small hand on Hermione's shoulder. The older girl looked at the younger and smiled brilliantly.

'The baby kicked.' She explained briefly and Ginny's eyes went as wide as Draco's had. She immediately put her hand on Hermione's stomach. Ginny started beaming and called the others over.

They each stood there in awe as Hermione felt the baby inside of her kick.

**A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for reading it! I need you to tell me if I got the pregnancy facts in this chapter right though, because I've never been pregnant, and I don't plan to be for a while. Thank you so much! Anyway, here are your reviewers and such from the last chapter!**

**Hermione-Loves-Ron16311**

**Spery**

**HermioneIsabellaGranger-Swan**

**Kat.1600**

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**Marla1**

**white demoness**

**blackXroseXpiano93**

**LibraryChild**

**rons-girlbloom**

**jojoshou24**

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**Mark Heffron**

**lady2087**

**guy (sorry dude, I couldn't fix the problem in chapter eleven to do with Hermion, Krum and Draco because my computer wouldn't let me, trust me, I've tried. It's so stupid. Sorry!)**

**Thank you to everyone that has reviewed, you all mean the world to me and I hope to hear from you again (hint, hint)! Anyway, thanks Review!**

**Love, Sarah xo.**


	28. Chapter Twenty Eight

**A/N: Okay, I think this is my longest chapter yet! I wanted to get this out before I went on holidays in a couple of days, and tomorrow's Christmas! so I didn't want to have to type up this story then. Consider it a Chrissie gift! A rather early one! I'm leaving in a couple of days for Queensland, and I won't be back until Jan the 4th or 5th, so I won't be able to get on the internet, only type stories when I have the time. **

**I hope you enjoy the chapter and hope I have little chrissie presents in the form of reviews for when I get back! Love you all!**

**Chapter Twenty Eight**

The day of the dance came and Hermione was woken up _way_ too early in the morning up a very hyper-active Ginny. Hermione groaned and turned over, covering her face.

'Ginny, go away.' She groaned. Ginny just squealed some more and kept jumping on her bed.

'Get up, Hermione! We have to start getting ready for the ball tonight! Come on, come on!' She yelled. Hermione groaned and turned back to face her.

'Shut up, you'll wake Parviti and Lavender.' Hermione whispered. Ginny scoffed.

'They've been up for at least the past hour and have been trying to wake you up because they needed to make some noise. Being quiet for your sake was killing them.' Ginny rolled her eyes. 'They called me in here to get you up and start getting you ready, though, I don't think they like you very much for the whole dress thing.' She whispered that last part conspiratorially with a slight giggle making it's way up her throat. Hermione sighed and rolled her own eyes.

'Fine, fine, I'm getting up. Get off my bed!' She said, marginally annoyed, but mostly amused. Ginny laughed and jumped off before throwing Hermione a towel and a pair of clothes and shoving her into the bathroom with a special type of potion that helped with frizzy and uncontrollable hair.

'What's this?' Hermione asked as Ginny pushed it into her hands.

'It'll help with your hair. Have a shower and hurry up. Call when you're out and dressed and I'll help you with your hair.' She answered, shutting the door tightly behind Hermione and locking it with her wand before turning around and sitting on her bed.

Hermione wasn't in the shower for too long, and she did use the stuff that Ginny gave her to use on her hair, and she did find it considerably easier to manage her hair after she came out and brushed it.

After getting dressed, she knocked on the door and yelled at Ginny to come in. Ginny unlocked the door and walked into the bathroom and instructed Hermione to sit in the seat in front of the mirror. She looked at Hermione's hair with a thoughtful expression; lips set to one side of her face.

They heard giggling outside the door and both the girls rolled their eyes. They knew who it was without even having to look.

'Lavender and Parviti.' Hermione muttered and Ginny nodded mutely. Leaving that topic of conversation alone, Ginny started picking at bits of Hermione's hair and twisting it different ways, all the while with that same thoughtful expression on her face.

'How do _you_ want your hair?' Ginny eventually asked her. Hermione laughed and smiled.

'I thought that was why you were here?' The older girl asked her. Ginny shot her an annoyed look, but only succeeded in making Hermione laugh even more. The laughter brought the presence of Hermione's other dorm mates.

'So, she has actually awoken.' Lavender said, bitterness clear in her voice, so much so that Ginny had to turn her head to smother her giggles. Hermione rolled her eyes and faced the two nuisances she had for dorm mates.

'Yes, I am. I just had a late night last night and I was tired.' She explained. Which was true. Her and Draco had celebrated over the kicking of the baby inside her in the only way they knew how.

Lavender and Parviti both laughed.

'You were inside the dorm room before we were, so how did you have a late night?' Parviti asked. Hermione rolled her eyes and turned back to the mirror.

'I was out with friends last night, just so you know.' She answered them. She heard Ginny cough and was sure she heard the word 'friend' in there somewhere. Hermione inconspicuously kicked Ginny as hard as she could without the other two noticing. She saw Ginny cringe out the corner of her eye and turned to her.

'Are you alright Ginny? I saw you cringe.' She said fake innocence. Ginny scowled at her.

'I'm fine. I just remembered something.' She answered. Hermione smiled and turned back to the mirror.

'Now, if you two are done with your interrogation, I'd like to get back to getting ready for the ball tonight. I have a lot of people to impress that are coming.' She said. Hermione's mood had gone from happy and jovial to sour in seconds flat. Ginny rolled her eyes at the abrupt change in her mood and quietly cursed the other two girls to hell and back, because a sour Hermione was not what she needed when she couldn't get away from her.

They played with Hermione's hair some more as Hermione sat grouchily in the chair. She still hadn't gotten over that little talk with Lavender and Parviti and Ginny doubted she would until she saw Draco again.

Just then, one of the girls from Ginny's own dorm room came in and knocked on the door of the bathroom. She opened it to find Romilda Vane standing outside the door with a sour look on her face.

'Eat a lemon, Vane?' Ginny asked. She had never liked Romilda, especially when she went through the 'I-Love-Harry' stage and Romilda kept trying to get his attention away from her.

'Shut up, Weasley. There's a couple of Slytherins down at the portrait hole that want to see you and Granger.' She threw a look at Hermione and Hermione shot her one right back.

'I'll go get them.' Hermione said, getting out of her seat and running down stairs in the cotton shorts and tank top that Ginny had pulled out of her closet for her to get changed into after her shower.

She saw Sierra and Pansy waiting at the door awkwardly as the Gryffindors shot the awful and confused looks from inside the Common Room. When they saw Hermione they instantly brightened up though and hugged her tightly, pressing there hands to her stomach and laughing.

'Are you sure there isn't another one in there after your little get together with Draco last night?' Sierra whispered in her ear. Hermione laughed and pulled the girl in for another hug.

'No way. Come on, you can help Ginny try and do something with my hair. It really isn't cooperating very well.' She said. They nodded.

'Of course, but first, things first.' She said as she saw Harry come down the stairs. She ran to him and jumped into his arms. Harry was just a tad surprised, but soon swung her around and kissed her heartily. Ron came down shortly after Harry, and Pansy walked over to him, trying to have a bit more dignity than Sierra, and kissed him just as passionately. Hermione rolled her eyes and pulled the girls back by their collars.

'Come on you two. I need help and you're going to help me.' She said. The two girls said goodbye to their boyfriends and followed Hermione back up the stairs.

'You couldn't have let us stay with them any longer, could you?' Sierra asked as they walked back up the stairs.

'Nope, you need to help me, Ginny is starting to get really annoyed and I want this out of the way!' Hermione whined. The two girls laughed at her whining and as they walked into Hermione's dorm room they found a very red Ginny and an even sour looking Romilda Vane.

'What the hell happened?' Hermione asked her best friend. Ginny turned to her and instantly smiled when she saw Pansy and Sierra.

'Out Vane, now, before I have to Bat-Bogey Hex you.' Ginny said threateningly and held her wand out in front of her. The three older girls in the doorway just rolled their eyes and sighed.

'What happened, Gin?' Pansy asked.

'She started threatening me! Telling me shit like, "oh, your boyfriend doesn't love you and never will", "he'll be mine before you know it", stuff like that!' Ginny cried. Everyone could see the tears start to fill her eyes. Hermione nodded to Pansy and Sierra and then went over to comfort Ginny. Pansy and Sierra grabbed Romilda by the arms and dragged her outside before shutting and locking the door in her face. After completing that task and wiping their hands together, they came over to Ginny and put their arms around her too. Sierra and Hermione were on either side of her and Pansy was sitting in front, holding her hands.

'Don't worry about it, Ginny. Blaise loves you, everyone can see that. Don't let that little annoying brat say anything about it. Oh, and if you every catch them together, don't blame Blaise first, blame her, because I don't think Blaise even knows who she is. I just thought I'd add that on. He would never deliberately hurt you.' Hermione consoled.

'Exactly,' Pansy started, 'because he knows Ron would skin within an inch of his life, and prolong his pain for as long as possible.' Ginny and the other three laughed lightly at the thought and Ginny wiped her eyes on the back of her hand.

'Thanks guys, I know I'm just being stupid, but it hurt me to hear her say stuff like that. And yes, I will take your advice if I ever catch them together, Hermione. I won't jump into blaming Blaise. I know he would never hurt me like that. He loves me. I'm just being stupid. Let's just forget that ever happened and get started trying to make something of Hermione's hair!' Ginny sniffled, laughing. Pansy and Sierra joined in and Hermione stuck her tongue out at them.

They joined hands and walked into the bathroom together before making Hermione sit back down in the chair and standing behind her.

'So, what are we going to do with this. At least it's kind of manageable.' Sierra said with a look of acceptance. Hermione laughed.

'Thank the hair potion that Ginny gave me. If it wasn't for that, then my hair would still be a mess.' She said. They all laughed and Pansy gave Ginny a posture that symbolled her praising some higher deity. Hermione turned around and hit her. This only made them all laugh harder. Suddenly, Sierra moved in behind Hermione and picked up some of her hair.

'I have an idea.' She announced. She fiddled some more and brought bits back, put some up and curled some parts that were looking straight around her finger. In the end, Hermione's hair finally looked like something she could handle for the rest of the night.

Hermione gasped when she saw it.

'Sierra, it looks brilliant! Thank you so much!' Hermione gushed and threw her arms around the blonde, who laughed and hugged her back.

'That's quite alright Hermione, but now I think it's Ginny's turn. I'm sure we can think of something to do with her hair.' Sierra said. Hermione came up with the perfect idea.

'Does anyone have any clips, like the big ones that are meant to hold up heaps of your hair?' She asked. She saw Ginny bite her lip for a second in thought, then jumped out of the seat and ran out the door and down the stairs, into her dorm room.

When she came back, the other girls were looking at her strangely. Ginny just grinned and held up a big, light green hair clip that had little flower prints on it that would go perfectly with her dress.

'Ginny! It's perfect!' Hermione squealed and forced the girl into the chair. Ginny and the others laughed. They had never seen Hermione so girly in their life.

'So, what's gotten you into this girly, lets-play-dress-up mood, Hermione?' Pansy asked as her and Sierra watched Hermione work on Ginny.

'These stupid mood swings I think. One minute I'm up, the next I'm down, the next I'm hyper and the next I'm depressed and crying. I don't know how Draco takes it, honestly.' She laughed, still fiddling.

'Well, now we know your hyper, I wonder when the depressed and crying will come.' Sierra said. They laughed and Hermione answered them.

'Oh, that will come just before we leave to meet the boys and I start thinking that he won't like what I'm wearing and that he'll completely hate me and that I don't deserve him and then I'll just go completely off track to what the conversation was on in the first place.' They all stared at her incredulously.

'You've already got this all planned out, don't you?' Ginny asked. Hermione laughed.

'No, that's just what I know is going to happen. Trust me, it's happened before and it took Draco twenty minutes to calm me down enough to talk coherently, then another half an hour to get me into realising that I wasn't a huge mistake to him. He's nearly the only person that can actually do that without having to resort to hitting me really hard. Harry was the last one to do that and Draco nearly killed him when he learned that.' Hermione chuckled at the memory as the others just looked on with raised eyebrows, shaking their heads.

'You've got this whole pregnancy thing figured out, don't you?' Sierra asked with a smile. Hermione laughed again. She was doing a lot of that lately.

'Let's just say that the movies don't lie.' She answered. They looked at her in confusion and Hermione just rolled her eyes.

'Movies is a muggle thing where you watch people acting, which is sometimes really good, sometimes really bad, and sometimes really corny and horrible. The movies can be about anything, romance, adventure, comedy, horror, thriller all kinds of things. My favourite is romance though. It always makes me cry.' Hermione pretended to wipe away a stray tear and the others laughed and went, 'awww.'

For the next half an hour, they finished up on the hair and moved onto the make-up. Hermione and Sierra decided to go for a more natural look, while Pansy decided to go for a darker one and Ginny went for a light one. They all looked gorgeous when the finished, and then decided to put on their nail polish, which Hermione had brought from home. She had an instinct that they might be needing it, and she was right. They each matched the colour of their nail polish to their dress colour and laughed the entire time.

They only saw Parviti and Lavender once, and that was when they came in to get their dresses. They turned their noses up at the Slytherin girls and collected them quickly without saying and word and left. Sierra had snorted and Pansy was looking after them with a raised eyebrow.

'Aren't we supposed to be the snooty, up-themselves house? Holy Merlin, they should have been in Slytherin with that look on their faces.' Sierra said. Hermione and Ginny laughed and agreed with them completely.

Hermione was so happy. She didn't even think the pregnancy hormones could bring her down at the moment. Though, she was still hoping that they wouldn't.

It got to the moment when it was nearly time for the ball, which was at 5pm, so they could have dinner before the actual dancing was to begin.

They only had to put their dresses on and they were ready.

'We are so lucky we brought our dresses with us, I don't think we'd have time to go get them.' Sierra said, looking down at her watch. Pansy nodded in agreement and they all put their dresses on together before walking down the stairs.

In the Common Room, Harry and Ron were waiting for Pansy and Sierra, and they looked up when the four of them walked down. Both were gaping like fish and had their eyebrows raised. Ron let loose a low whistle and the girls laughed. They could see the other boys in the room having the same effect, and the girls glowered at them as the their men salivated over them. Unfortunately, Harry and Ron noticed this and quickly wrapped their arms around the girls, and Ron wrapped one around Ginny too. Hermione rolled her eyes and lead the group to the portrait hole.

'You guys look stunning.' Harry said as they walked down the hall, but he was looking at Sierra when he said it. The girl blushed and wrapped herself tighter under his arm. This is when Hermione started freaking out from her pregnancy hormones.

'What if Draco doesn't like how the dress looks on me? And then he dumps me and I'm left all alone and . . . and . . . and . . .' She whispered. Ginny heard her and hugged her friend tightly.

'Draco will love how you look. He certainly won't dump you and as long as he's around, you won't be left all alone. We'll make sure of it. Don't worry, everything will be fine.' Ginny soothed her as Hermione continued to bawl her eyes out.

'No! It won't be! He'll hate me! I know he will!' She cried.

Harry and the other three hung back. They knew what happened when Hermione got in these mood swings. She never wanted more than a couple of people around her at a time. That was when he felt Sierra slide out from under him and walked over to her friend and wrapped her arms around her.

'Hush now, Hermione. Everything will be fine. Everything always is, isn't it?' She asked. Hermione turned around and nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes. Sierra smiled softly and helped her fix the little make up she had on.

'See, everything's better already. He loves you more than you could ever know, Hermione. I know because he told me himself that he himself could never express how much he misses you when you aren't with him, how much passion envelopes him when you two are alone together, how beautiful he thinks you are, even after you've just woken up. How much he absolutely loves everything you do, from how you bite your lip in thought, to how much he loves your smile. Trust me, no one could ever love another the way he loves you. Never doubt that.' Sierra said to her, and Hermione nodded and gave a soft choke of laughter.

'I'm just being stupid. I hate these stupid hormones. They make everything in my body go crazy. I hate it. I'm sorry. Thank you so much you two.' Hermione hugged them both and wiped her eyes even better and hooked arms with both of them.

'Let's go, before I get even more emotional.' She said, and they all walked off together to the Entrance Hall, where Blaise and Draco were waiting for them.

-

Draco had been up in knots all night about what he thought Hermione would look like in the morning and whether or not her friends would be able to handle her unpredictable mood swings the way he could.

Him and Blaise got up late and got something to eat in the kitchens, not wanting to face the buzz that would be going on in the Great Hall at this moment. They ate quickly before heading back upstairs and starting to get ready. On the way, they saw Pansy and Sierra leaving the Common Room, so Draco wished them luck with getting everything ready for tonight. They nodded and laughed.

'We'll keep her in line and begging for you, Draco.' Pansy added as they walked out. Draco tilted his head back and groaned.

'They are making this separation until tonight so much worse!' He complained. Blaise laughed at him and pushed him into the couches to play some Wizarding Chess. Draco couldn't concentrate though, and soon Blaise had won all of the five games they had played and was starting to get very frustrated.

'Merlin Draco! Would you just concentrate on something for ten seconds! Other than Hermione!' he cried. Draco was taken aback by the outburst, but simply smirked at his friend and leaned back against the seat.

'You're asking for the impossible, mate. I have to see her, and soon. I'm going mad just sitting here. I haven't seen her all day!' Draco retorted. He leaned forward and put his head in his hands, shaking it. He brought his head up, rubbing his hands over it. Blaise laughed.

'You've got it so bad, mate.' He said, leaning back in his own chair. Draco laughed.

'I know, and I love it. Let's go get changed.' He said, and the two males got up and changed, before heading out to the Entrance Hall to await their beautiful girlfriends and their best friends.

They didn't have to wait very long. Draco was fixing something on his dinner jacket, when Blaise nudged him in the ribs and he looked up. His face went from blank to shocked in a split second flat. As he gazed at Hermione and watched her smile brilliantly at him, he felt all of his love for her shine out through his eyes as he smiled back. He felt his breath catch in his throat as he gazed at her in that beautiful red satin dress that his mother had sent her not too long ago. His eyes swept her appreciatively, noticing her lack of heavy make-up, making her look more natural, and her hair, half pinned back in a beautiful clip. He loved the way she looked.

He moved closer to her and swept her into his arms, kissing her passionately. When they pulled away, both were gasping for breath and smiling hugely.

'What was that for?' Hermione asked. Draco just grinned.

'Because you're the most beautiful girl in the room.' He whispered. Hermione blushed lightly and hid her small smile from him. Draco tilted her head upward and kissed her more gently now.

'Come on, let's go have dinner. Mother will be here soon. She's always fashionably late.' Draco chuckled lightly and threaded her arm through his. Hermione smiled and the four couples walked through the double doors of the Great Hall to face a multitude of tables, all covered with white table cloths and eight chairs surrounding them. They all gaped as the entered and found a table to sit at near the front of the room.

'This place is amazing.' Sierra muttered in astonishment. They all nodded their heads in agreement.

'It looks even better now than it did at the Yule Ball in fourth year.' Blaise said. Again came in nodding in unison.

They were rather silent for a couple of minutes, as they watched other students file in and take seats on the remaining tables. Soon, Ginny, Pansy and Sierra were all talking about the dresses some of the girls were wearing and Blaise, Harry and Ron were going on about Quidditch, leaving Hermione and Draco to their own devices.

Hermione rested her head on Draco's shoulder and he wrapped a protective arm around her. He silently kissed the top of her head sweetly.

'Are you alright, love?' He asked. Hermione looked up and smiled softly.

'Yeah, just a bit tired. Ginny really shouldn't have woken me up that early this morning.' She said with a yawn. That was when Draco noticed the make up smudges around her eyes and sighed, wrapping both of his arms around her and rubbing her arm.

'You didn't start crying again, did you?' He murmured to her. He could feel Hermione move into him a little more and he guessed she was trying to hide her blush. He sighed and raised his eyes.

'Love, everything's fine, you know that don't you? I love you with all of my heart. Don't forget that.' He muttered to her. Hermione nodded and looked up.

'I know, I was just being stupid because of these stupid hormones making me go crazy and I'm sorry, I can't help it and-' Draco cut her off with a soft kiss.

'Don't worry. Everything is going to be alright. Not long now and you won't have to be worrying about any hormones at all. Okay?' He asked after he broke off. Hermione smiled lightly and nodded, so Draco smiled back.

'Come on, let's look at how horrible some people's fashion sense is.' He muttered. Hermione giggled and looked up at the door. Until everyone arrived, they spent most of the night watching the couples walking in and discussing trivial things.

When Dumbledore stood up, after everyone was seated, the hall became quiet.

'Guests, Teachers, Students! Welcome to our Christmas Yule Ball and Dinner!' Dumbledore stopped as the polite applauding started. He held up his hands after a while and everything quietened down a bit.

'Now, I would like to introduce our guests! Tonight, we have with us, Minister Cornelius Fudge!' Dumbledore announced. Fudge stood up and took a small bow before seating himself again and waiting for the applause to die down.

'Mr. Sirius Black!' Sirius jumped up and took a huge bow in front of the students and flashed a wink at Harry's table. All eight of them just sat there, gaping and stunned. Hermione was the first out of the trance.

'Why didn't he tell us that he was coming tonight!' She whispered loudly to the others. Harry grinned.

'This is Sirius we're talking about. He'd love the thought of surprising us.' He answered. They all nodded and turned back to face Dumbledore.

'Mrs. Narcissa Malfoy!' That was when the doors erupted open and Narcissa herself swept through the them. From beside her, Hermione heard Draco groan and thump his head on the table. Hermione looked down at him and giggled, rubbing his back to make him feel better.

Narcissa had to walk past their table and she sent a wink and a smile towards Hermione, who smiled back, and a pat on the head for Draco, making him sink into his seat with his head still on the table.

'Why must she be so embarrassing?' He hissed. He could hear all the others muffled laughter and he shot a look at them, but it had the opposite effect to what he wished. They laughed harder.

After Narcissa was seated next to Sirius on the guests table, Dumbledore quietened everyone down again.

'And last but never least, James Potter!' Every single person in the hall was dead silent as James Potter whipped off his Invisibility Cloak (which Harry would have to yell at him for later because he didn't ask for it), and waited for a sort of applause with a huge smile on his face.

No one made a noise, everyone was gaping like fish at the man who they all thought was dead. James folded his arms and tapped his feet, while Sirius tried not to burst into laughter. Finally, James sighed and addressed the hall.

'No, I'm not a ghost, or a figure of your imagination. You can welcome me now.' He said. This was exactly what set Sirius off. He burst into uncontrollable laughter and even fell to the floor, rolling around like a little child. James glared at him and turned to his son. Harry looked at him with a raised eyebrow and look of annoyance on his face. James grinned happily and walked over to him.

'I believe this is yours. Sorry I took it, I just wanted to make an entrance.' He said sheepishly. Harry just shook his head and took it back from him.

'Tell me next time will you. Then I might not have a heart attack when I find it gone. Not that I noticed or needed it.' He added hastily, watching some of the teachers look at him suspicion. James laughed uproariously.

'Of course not. I completely believe you. How are you, you lot? Not getting into trouble I hope.' James winked at Draco and Hermione and they both turned red as a beetroot, hiding their faces.

'Shut up!' Hermione hissed. The whole hall was still gaping after James Potter, but some people had started whispering. She started rubbing her temples. James snorted.

'I have some brilliant news for us Harry.' He said to his son. Harry looked up with interest and curiosity.

'Not now, later.' He said. Harry nodded. His interest was now very piqued. James nodded to him and turned back to his seat. By this time, Sirius was able to control himself and was once again sitting calmly in his chair. Remus, on the other hand, was trying not to beat his head against the table.

Back at Harry's table, Hermione and Draco were not over what James had insinuated. Sierra was giggling over it and Ron was grinning like a madman. Ginny, Blaise and Harry all felt sorry for them.

Dumbledore calmed everyone down again and continued his speech.

'I would hate to keep you all from your dinners, so here are my leaving words: eat, laugh, talk, drink!' He yelled.

Everyone turned to each other and started to talk about the entrance of one, James Potter. Everyone, other than the people who knew he was alive. They were talking about Draco's embarrassing mother.

'Why does she have to do it to me? She never did it before!' He cried, before picking up the menu and deliberating over what to eat. Hermione giggled.

'She never had the freedom to show you the extent of her love before, Draco. Let her have her fun now, so she won't be embarrassing you too much in front of your child.' Hermione said the last part in a whisper, so no one but the people on the table could hear. Said people started laughing.

'Yeah, you'd hate to be embarrassed in front of your own kid.' Ron laughed, but he was still talking quietly out of consideration. Draco glared at him and smacked him on the back of the head.

'As soon as you get a kid, all I'm going to do is embarrass you.' He hissed at him. Hermione placed a hand on his arm.

'Calm down, love. Remember, most of the teasing that you have to endure is going to have me involved in it too. I'll be going down with you.' She giggled. Draco sighed and pulled her head in to kiss it.

'I know. I just don't want to be a laughing stock with my own kid.' He whispered to her. Hermione looked up at him, surprised.

'What are you talking about? You'll be a great father. I know you will.' She said, smiling. Draco smiled back and kissed her lips lightly.

'And you'll be an even better mother.' He whispered. Hermione's face lit up in a brilliant smile. Draco smiled back and pulled away from her. 'Come on, love, you must be hungry.' He teased. Hermione shot him a look and started to eat what had appeared on her plate.

The rest of the talk was amiable all through dessert and up until the end of the meal altogether.

Dumbledore stood up and addressed the crowd when he saw that they were all done eating.

'Now that we have filled our stomachs, let the dancing begin!' He said. With that, the tables were cleared and everyone stood up as the tables moved further back and more tightly together as the old Headmaster created a huge dance floor where the tables used to be. Then he flicked his wand again and the side of the hall became a stage, where a group of wizards walked on stage to talk their positions at the orchestral instruments.

Everyone wondered at the brilliant job Dumbledore had done and applauded him. Dumbledore blushed abashedly and quietened them all down before signalling to the band to start playing.

Draco turned to Hermione.

'May I have this dance?' He asked suavely. Hermione giggled and took his offered hand. Draco lead them out into the middle of the floor, where only a couple of other partners were dancing. The other partners being Dumbledore and McGonagall, and Narcissa and Sirius. They were obviously making up for lost conversation.

Draco smiled as he turned Hermione around to face him and took one of her hands before putting the other on her waist. Hermione was blushing like mad already without having Draco treating her like some royalty to add to it. But she did have to admit, he was a wonderful dancer.

'I never knew you danced, Mr. Malfoy.' She pointed out.

'Then there are a lot of things you don't know about me, Ms. Granger.' He answered aloofly while smirking. Hermione smiled and looked at him with love filled eyes.

'I know more than you think I do about you, Mr. Malfoy.' She said playfully. Draco laughed and kissed her lightly.

'I love you, Hermione Granger. Always and forever.' He whispered, his forehead leaning against her.

'I love you too, Draco Malfoy. For eternity.' She whispered back.

The rest of the dance was done in silence, both looking into each others eyes, trying to convey to each other the depth of their feelings, for neither had every felt so in love.

After that dance finished, Sirius tapped Draco on the shoulder.

'Do you mind if I have the next dance with your lovely girlfriend?' He asked, his eyes shining with innocence. Draco sighed and smiled.

'If you must. But this means I have to dance with my mother.' Draco shuddered at the thought, before kissing Hermione and leaving her with Sirius.

'Can you even dance, Sirius?' She asked apprehensively. Sirius looked at her with fake shock.

'Of course I can!' He said, and he proceeded to show her, by putting his hand on her waist and collecting the other in his remaining hand and waltzing huge steps around the room, making Hermione laugh.

'You are so ridiculous!' She laughed. Sirius laughed with her.

'Well, some one has to lighten the mood around here. Everyone looks so serious!' He said, sounding aghast. Hermione laughed again.

'I'm sure some lively music will come on a bit later, and what's remaining of the Marauders can have some fun.' She said with a huge smile. Sirius laughed again.

'Yes, I suppose we will have a bit of fun later on. I should tell you now, though, don't drink the punch.' He whispered conspiratorially. Hermione looked at him in shock.

'What did you do to it?' She cried. Sirius just looked at her with a massive grin.

'Let's just say that after one glass, you'll feel like you've already had that one too many that sent you right over the edge.' He answered. Hermione looked at him in even more shock.

'You spiked it!' She whispered back. Sirius grinned again.

'Of course we did. While everyone else was dancing the first dance. I'm just amazed no one noticed!' He replied, still in hushed tones. Hermione shook her head disapprovingly.

'I won't tell anyone, but I'll warn my friends not drink any. Have you warned anyone other than me?' She asked. Sirius thought for a little bit before piping up.

'I think I may have warned Remus, and Harry, and he would have told Sierra and maybe Ron, who would have told Pansy, but Ginny and Blaise probably won't know, and Draco doesn't, so I'm not sure who I've told.' He admitted. Hermione looked at him suspiciously.

'You've been drinking that punch, haven't you?' She asked.

'No! Of course not! I don't need to drink to make it look like I'm drunk.' He answered her. Hermione laughed.

'So true.' She said. That dance finished by the time their conversation came to an end, and Hermione said thank you for the dance and set off to find her friends to tell them about the punch. The first people she saw were Neville and Luna.

'Hey, Neville, Luna!' She called. They looked over to her and smiled and waved.

'Hey Hermione, what's up?' Neville asked. Hermione smiled at him and leaned in close to the both of them, beckoning them in.

'Whatever you do, don't drink the punch. Sirius and James went a little crazy and spiked it heavily.' She whispered to them. 'Oh, and don't go spreading it around, either. They need some fun in their lives, those two.' She added. The two teens nodded and steered clear of the punch bowl.

The next couple she met was Ginny and Blaise, so she went up to them and whispered into their ears. They both nodded and had to stifle their laughter with their hands.

'Those two are so crazy.' Ginny muttered. Hermione agreed before leaving with the excuse of finding Draco.

'You two wouldn't happen to know where he is, by any chance, would you? We have to tell Narcissa about the really important thing.' She said, placing an inconspicuous hand over her stomach.

'No, sorry Hermione. We haven't seen him. If we do, though, we'll tell you.' Blaise said. Hermione smiled at him and walked off, wondering where he could be.

_I was only without him for one dance, and he goes missing._ She complained in her head, but then she saw the white blonde head of hair standing over where she really didn't want him to be. The punchbowl. Hermione groaned and made her way over to him.

'Draco!' She called. He turned around with two cups in his hand. Hermione shook her head and put a hand over her stomach. Draco nodded and put it back down. Hermione made her way to him quickly.

'Don't drink it! Sirius and James spiked it heavily.' She said, taking the cup from his hand and putting it back on the table.

Draco laughed.

'I knew someone was going to try something like that.' He chuckled. Hermione looked at him disapprovingly.

'And yet you were still going to drink it?' She asked. Then her eyes widened. 'You were going to make me drink it!' She hissed Draco sighed and wrapped his arms around her.

'I wasn't going to make you drink it. I didn't know they had put anything in there yet. I was actually going to give it to someone first to try some before even thinking about giving any to you, my love. I trust no one here when it comes to spiking the punch.' He smirked and Hermione smiled up softly at him.

'So you weren't going to make me drink it?' She asked. Draco kissed her softly.

'Of course not.' He said. She smiled and kissed him back a little more forcefully. Draco happily returned it. When he broke it off, he smiled widely.

'Do you want to go for another dance?' He asked. Hermione laughed.

'Hmm,' she said thoughtfully. 'I don't know; why not?' She said. Draco smiled and took her hand, bringing her back out onto the dance floor.

He twirled her back into his arms the way he did before and brought her close to him. Draco was smiling contentedly the entire time.

After a little bit of time being silent, Hermione decided to break it.

'When do you think we should tell Narcissa?' She asked. 'Oh, and not to mention Sirius, Remus, James and the rest of the Weasley's.' She added. Draco looked at her thoughtfully. He seemed to be thinking it through.

'I think we should tell mother just before she leaves. And the rest of them are staying the night I think, so we can tell them whenever. We should send the Weasley's a letter. That would be the best way instead of waiting until the end of the year and surprising them with a little bundle of joy.' Draco laughed softly and so did Hermione. 'We'll tell mother soon, she'll want to talk to us about it and we should tell her while she's still sober, because she seems to be eyeing the punch.' Draco whispered to her. Hermione stifled a giggle and she watched Narcissa's eyes flick to the punchbowl and back.

'Why don't we tell Narcissa now? I think that it would be a good idea. It get s it off our chests and I'm getting tired from dancing.' She said. Draco smiled at her and nodded, leading her off the dance floor and over to where his mother stood on the other side of the hall, talking to Sirius.

When they got there, Sirius and Narcissa smiled brightly at them.

'Hermione, darling! You look wonderful! That dress fits you very nicely if I say so myself.' She said, while Draco shook his head.

'Yes, I've been meaning to say thank you for it Narcissa. It's the nicest thing anyone has every given me.' Hermione replied. Narcissa just smiled lovingly at her.

'You're basically part of the family now anyway, so I thought I should do something nice. And it's also a way of saying thank you.' She said sincerely, winking at Hermione so she knew what she knew what Narcissa saying thank you was for.

'There's no need to thank me, it's my pleasure.' Hermione answered. Sirius smirked.

'I bet it is.' He said. Hermione shot him a look and he laughed. Narcissa hit him and Draco turned rather red.

'Actually, mother, there was something Hermione and I were going to tell you. You can't go crazy, because no one in the school knows. So you have to be silently grateful.' Draco said quietly. Narcissa looked worriedly between the two, and so did Sirius until they saw the happy smile upon Hermione's face.

'What's going on?' Narcissa asked.

Draco looked at Hermione and smiled himself.

'Hermione's expecting. She's due around the middle of April.' He whispered, but the two adults still heard him and Narcissa nearly fainted. They were both gaping at Draco and Hermione like they were from another planet.

Then Narcissa's face broke into a huge grin and she swept Hermione up into her arms. Behind Narcissa, they saw Lavender and Parviti drop their glasses of punch in shock.

Draco looked up at them in shock. _What did they hear?_ He asked himself.

Sirius broke into a grin too and clapped Draco on the shoulder. He pulled the boy in close and whispered in his ear.

'I knew all that time you two spent alone in the bedroom together would pay off.' Draco hit him in the shoulder and walked over to the two Gryffindor girls standing behind his mother.

'So, what seems to be your problem? Usually people don't walk around with their mouths hanging open and their eyes as wide as saucers, while dropping glasses filled with punch everywhere.' He said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Parviti broke out of her stupor first.

'Did your mother seriously just hug Hermione Granger?' She asked. Draco narrowed his eyes at the girl.

'Yes, she did. Do you have a problem with that? Because if you do, then it's pointless.' He retorted.

'How could she even think of hugging _her_?' Lavender asked. Draco glared at them.

'If you're quite done insulting my girlfriend, I beg you take your leave. Now.' Draco growled. The girls started a little at the gravely voice he used, but turned and walked away quickly. Draco was rather satisfied that they hadn't heard the reason for Narcissa's happiness, but was still very angry at the girls for their insults towards Hermione, the girl he loved, and the one that was carrying his child.

He turned back to his family and wrapped a secure arm around Hermione's waist.

'Sorry about that, I thought a couple of your fellow Gryffindors over heard.' He muttered. Narcissa nodded.

'Quite understandable. Oh, I am so happy for you. I must be invited when it happens, alright. I want to make sure everything runs smoothly.' She told Draco. Draco sighed and nodded with a slight smile on his face.

'Of course, mother. Sirius, you must come too.' He said. Sirius nodded exuberantly.

'What about James?' He asked. Draco laughed and nodded.

'It wouldn't be right without Potter Senior there.' He answered. Sirius grinned at him and hugged them both tight.

'You two will make brilliant parents.' He muttered to them. By this time, Hermione was crying silently and hugging him back with a lot of force.

'Thank you, Sirius.' She whispered. Sirius smiled at her and kissed her head.

'I don't think anyone could doubt your competence at doing whatever you put your mind to.' He said to her. Hermione kissed him on the cheek and turned to Draco.

'Let's go find James and tell him. We might as well get it all over and done with now.' She said. Draco nodded and they went to turn away, when Narcissa stopped them.

'Why aren't you showing yet if you're due in April?' She asked. Hermione turned back to her.

'There are many useful spells out there, Narcissa. I just happen to know about them.' She answered. Narcissa smiled and nodded to her, and Hermione and Draco turned back around again and left.

'Well, that went well.' Draco muttered. Hermione laughed.

'Of course it was going to go well! Narcissa wanted this child just as much as we did. She loves it already!' She said, happily. Draco grinned at her and they made their way across the floor.

'Do you have any idea where the Potter family is?' Draco asked her. Hermione looked thoughtful.

'No, I haven't seen them since dinner.' She said. Draco looked thoughtful too, and walked both of them around the circumference of the room, looking for the two Potter males who seemed to have disappeared.

They walked out the double doors after a couple of moments and they saw both of them standing outside, talking to one another in serious tones. Draco pulled her back inside.

'We can tell James tomorrow, let him talk to Harry now.' He murmured to her. Hermione nodded her head and they walked back to where they had seen Ginny and Blaise talking to Sierra.

'Hey, did you find Harry and James?' Blaise asked. They nodded.

'Yeah, we did, but they looked like they were having a really in depth conversation, so we left them alone. We'll tell James tomorrow.' Draco answered. They all nodded slowly.

'So, do any of you know where Ron and Pansy are?' Hermione asked. Ginny snorted.

'Probably off somewhere being hypocrites. I swear, Ron tells me off for snogging Blaise in public, but he goes off and does it with Pansy.' She said bitterly. Blaise rubbed her shoulder with the hand that was around her.

'No, the thing is, they find and empty classroom and go in there. No one can see them.' Sierra said. Ginny grumped and Blaise put an arm around her.

'Don't worry, love. Maybe an empty classroom is exactly what we need.' He muttered seductively into her ear. Ginny turned bright red and turned her head slightly to kiss him forcefully. Blaise pulled her to him. Everyone else groaned and inched to the side to let the lovers have their moment of passion.

'So, how did everything go with Aunt Narcissa?' Sierra asked. Both Hermione and Draco grinned.

'Absolutely perfectly. She was silently ecstatic, which was exactly what we wanted. The less people that know the better.' Draco answered.

'Seriously, her and Sirius stood there in shock for, like, five minutes, before she broke into a huge grin and hugged me so tightly I didn't know if I would ever be able to breathe again.' Hermione said. Sierra started laughing at her Aunt. It was completely typical and common knowledge that Narcissa wanted to be a grandmother.

'So she was excited then?' She asked with a smile on her face. Draco snorted.

'That's an understatement.' He muttered, his eyes wide and gliding towards the floor. Both Sierra and Hermione started laughing.

'What about Sirius?' Sierra asked excitedly.

'He was over the moon too. He kept telling me about how much of a great mother I will be and how great of parents we will be. It was so emotional. It was the most sincere thing I think I've ever heard from his mouth. Other than when he said those father/son things to Harry when James wasn't around.' Hermione added.

'He can really be a heart-warming guy when he wants to be.' Sierra said. The other two nodded and a silence settled in while they mulled over their thoughts. Sierra suddenly thought of something and grinned widely at the two.

'So, thought of any baby names yet?' She asked. Hermione rolled her eyes and Draco laughed. Sierra looked a tad upset.

'What? We left you alone about this for a great while Hermione, you have to clue us in now.' She said. Hermione sighed.

'We really haven't talked about names yet, Sierra. We've had other things on our minds. We might just make it a spur of the moment thing.' She said. Draco like that idea. Maybe making a name up for the children now wasn't such a good idea. What if the name didn't fit them?

'I liked that idea. Why don't we go with that? Make it up as we go along, per se.' He said. Hermione looked up at him thoughtfully.

'That is a good idea. It was really only a random thought that popped into my head though.' She giggled. Sierra sighed.

'Must you be annoying? We want to know names!' She whined. Draco laughed at her and Hermione rolled her eyes.

'Well, you're just going to have to wait until April, aren't you?' She asked. Sierra stuck her tongue at Hermione and both girls broke into laughter. Draco sighed. They were such _girls_ sometimes. Then again, they technically _were_.

The rest of the night was spent in a flurry of dancing and other conversation. Hermione danced with all of her friends to all the different music that Dumbledore had hired for the evening and enjoyed herself with Draco, staying in his arms for most of the evening.

Draco was always very reluctant to let her dance with anyone else, but he reminded himself that there friends could be trusted, and that nothing was going to happen to her, but he still watched her like a hawk.

He enjoyed watching her laugh and smile. He had never seen her so happy and full of life. He loved it. It was what made him love her so much.

They laughed and joked and danced the night away before Draco saw Hermione pretty much dead on her feet. He wrapped his arm around her tighter and bent his head close to her.

'Let's get you to bed. You look so tired.' He whispered to her. Hermione nodded and they said good night to everyone and a huge good night to Narcissa before Draco lead her outside and up the staircase. He even brought her as far to her bed as he could go. They said good night to one another with a kiss and Draco went back down to the Slytherin dorms.

-

**A/N: Here are the amazing people that reviewed, alerted or favorited me!**

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	29. Chapter Twenty Nine

**A/N: Hey guys! I had a rather hard time with this chapter, thinking up all those damn presents, and, as you will see, I have little to no imagination when it comes to these things. I hope you enjoy the chapter, and that it didn't take tooo long to come out, but I haven't been able to type much. On the plus side, the next chapter is nearly done, just a couple more Word pages to write, and that is when things atrt to get rather serious in the story. I hope you enjoy this chapter though! Please review!**

**Disclaimer: Sorry, I don't own Harry Potter, or anything to do with Harry Potter, it all belongs to the wonderful JK Rowling, because if I owned it, there would be quite a few changes. lol. **

**Chapter Twenty Nine**

In the morning, Hermione awoke (once again) to Ginny jumping on her bed squealing her name. Like yesterday, she groaned and rolled over, covering her eyes.

'Come on, Hermione! It's Christmas! Bring your presents; we are all going down to the ROR to open them up!' She squealed again before jumping off Hermione's bed and started shaking her.

'Come on, Hermione,' she started complaining. 'Get up!' She gave up on that idea and put her hands on her hips, pulling her lips into a tight line. 'Hermione Jane Granger, if you don't get up this very instant then I will have to resort to drastic measures.' She said quite seriously.

Hermione peeked a look at Ginny under her arm and saw the younger girl pulling a freakishly alike Molly-face; the face that Mrs. Weasley has whenever someone wasn't doing the right thing. Hermione sighed and rolled onto her back.

'Alright! I'm getting up. Do me a favour and shrink my presents and put them in a bag for me. Getting out of bed may take a while.' She muttered.

They both heard a giggle from the other side of the curtain surrounding Hermione's bed.

'Getting fat in your old age, Hermione?' They heard Lavender ask. Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes.

'Shut up, Lavender! You stupid whore! You have no idea what you're talking about!' Hermione yelled, bursting into tears. Ginny started getting angry and flung the curtain aside, quickly shutting it behind her and casting a silencing charm on it so she wouldn't hear what Ginny was going to say to Lavender.

'You keep your horrible fat mouth shut. She doesn't feel very confident about her body as it is without you saying shit like that.' The young red-headed girl hissed at the brown haired girl brushing her hair in front of her vanity.

Lavender raised an eyebrow at her.

'What's up her ass? She's never reacted like that when I've said that to her before.' Lavender said. Ginny continued to glare at her, but avoided the question, asking one of her own.

'When was the last time you said that to her?' She asked. Lavender looked at her thoughtfully.

'I don't know, last year.' She answered. Ginny rolled her eyes and sighed heavily.

'That would be why.' She muttered. 'Just get the hell out of here, Lavender. I now have to calm Hermione down enough to get her downstairs.' She said, turning around and heading back to Hermione's bed.

'Come on, Mione. Let's go down to the Room of Requirement. Everyone will be down there and we can open up all of our presents together. And we'll even let you and Draco suck face in front of us. It's not like Ron and Pansy don't, so we're used to it. Come on, get up now.' Ginny soothed, sitting on the bed next to Hermione and trying to get her to stop crying.

'No! Draco won't want to see me when I'm this fat!' She cried. Ginny sighed and rolled her eyes. She didn't want to know how many times they had had this conversation during Hermione's pregnancy, but this was getting a tad ridiculous.

'He won't think you're fat because you're carrying his child. He'll you're beautiful for that Hermione. And plus, you can't even see your growing stomach because of the charm you put on it. Don't worry, everything will be fine. Come with me and you can see for yourself.' Ginny said softly. She heard Hermione sniffle and saw her lift her head out of her arms.

'Really?' She asked quietly. Ginny smiled at her softly. This was the quickest she had ever been able to break Hermione out of her tears and sorry feelings.

'Really really.' She said. Hermione smiled to her and sat up, rubbing the tears away from her eyes.

'What am I thinking? I'm being silly. Stupid hormones. I'm sorry, Ginny. You have to put up with me so much. Thank you.' Hermione said, smiling. Ginny smiled back at her.

'That's what friends are for, Hermione. Now come on, everyone will be wondering where we are.' She said, grabbing Hermione's hand and shrinking all of her presents at once, stuffing them into a bag that sat at the end of her bed.

The two girls ran out of the common room and down to the seventh floor, where they knocked on the wall and waited for someone to open the door. Draco did. He smiled brightly when he saw Hermione and quickly brought her into a huge kiss.

'Merry Christmas, my love.' He whispered to her when they broke apart. Hermione smiled up at him.

'Merry Christmas to you, too.' She said.

'How are you this morning? Are you feeling alright?' Draco asked concernedly. Hermione smiled at him.

'I'm perfectly fine. I had a little mishap with Lavender, but that's all over now, and I really just want to open my presents.' She said, smiling broadly and kissing him quickly before grabbing his hand and walking past him, dragging the blond along with her.

Draco laughed and caught her around the waist.

'You aren't getting away that easily.' He muttered into her neck, attacking it with kisses. Hermione giggled and squirmed, trying to get away from him, but he held fast.

'Ah! Draco, let go!' She cried in between giggles. Draco just smirked, and then pouted.

'Aw, why? I'm having so much fun.' He whined. Hermione giggled and turned around in his embrace.

'Because we have to be nice and open our presents with our friends.' She answered. Draco continued to pout and Hermione kissed it away, but as she began to pull away completely, Draco held onto her and wouldn't let her go. Hermione didn't even bother struggling, she just melted into the kiss and held onto him tightly, pulling him as close to her as possible. Behind them, they heard someone clear their throat.

'When you two are done, we'd like to get to the presents.' They heard Harry say. They could tell he was smiling though, and not really that angry. Draco turned to him.

'Just give us an hour; we should be done by then.' He told Harry, smirking. Harry rolled his eyes and threw a pillow at him, but Draco used Hermione as a shield.

She stood there in shock, while Draco and everyone else laughed.

'What the hell? I'm the pregnant one here! Why am I being used as a shield?' She asked.

'You were standing in front of me anyway, and it's only a pillow.' Draco answered, kissing her one more time before leading her to the chairs, where he sat her down on his lap.

'Who else are we waiting for?' He asked the room at large.

'Sirius, dad and Remus. I asked Narcissa if she wanted to join us, but she said that she had to leave and make sure the house was still in good shape.' Harry answered. Draco nodded and kissed Hermione's neck again, before resting his head on her shoulder. Hermione sighed and leaned against his chest. The mention of James made her think about how she was going to tell him about her pregnancy. She knew he wasn't going to blow up at her, but she just didn't know how to broach the subject. She hoped someone would be nice enough to help her.

'How long are they going be?' Ron asked. You could hear everyone sigh and some rolled their eyes. Just then, they heard a knock on the door. Harry laughed and got out of his seat next to Sierra, going to the door.

'Looks like you don't have to wait any longer, Ron. They're here.' He said. Ron grinned and started to get excited over the idea of opening his presents.

Harry opened the door and let his father, Godfather and his father's friend into the room.

'Merry Christmas everyone!' They yelled simultaneously. Everyone laughed and wished them a merry Christmas back, before they sat down in the circle of people gathered there.

'So are we going to open these presents or not?' Sirius asked. Harry laughed and held up his hands.

'One, two, three, open up!' He yelled. With that, everyone started tearing into their presents. Hermione got make-up and jewellery from Ginny, a book on cats from Pansy (Hermione had a sudden interest in finding out more about cats a little while ago and had been researching them ever since), a gold heart pendant from Sierra that said _Sister_ on it (Hermione was so touched by this she started crying), a book of useful spells and curses from Remus, a red and gold scarf from James (he didn't know Hermione very well, but she was still touched for him trying), a book of pranks from the twins, which the sent with a letter telling her that she had to lighten and loosen up or they would do it for her. Everyone laughed at this and Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes at them, even without them there. From Sirius she got a golden lion pin, which was filled in with red, Hermione loved it and she gave him a huge hug for it. From Harry, she got an advanced transfiguration book that had stuff about Human Transformations in it, which he knew Hermione was interested in. From Ron she got a new quill and ink set. The quill was from an Eagle and had some very nice neutral, earthy colours flowing through it, with a variety of different coloured inks. From Blaise, Hermione got a charm bracelet, that had a snake already attached. He said to consider a gift from the whole of Slytherin, and started calling her an honorary snake. Hermione just laughed and hugged him. Mrs. Weasley sent her usual jumper and a box of chocolates. Last, Hermione received Draco's gift. It was a gorgeous black dress with red accents. It was floor length and had a relatively tight corseted bodice, with a halter neck. It was beautiful and made if satin. Hermione's jaw dropped open when she opened it, and she felt tears threaten to spill over her eyes. She looked up at him with an awed expression.

'You got this for me?' She asked in a whisper. Draco nodded and cupped his hand around her cheek.

'Of course. A beautiful girl deserves more than one beautiful dress.' He answered, grinning softly. At this the tears did spill over Hermione's eyes and she threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

'Thank you.' She whispered. Draco smiled and wrapped his arms even tighter around her.

'You're quite welcome. It's always my pleasure to see you happy.' He said. Hermione smiled and hugged him tighter before letting him go and looking around the room at everyone's smiling faces. They were all having the time of their lives unwrapping presents and such with each other. She knew times like these she had to keep locked in her memory forever, because they could be very short lived.

Voldemort wasn't defeated yet, and Harry would soon have to put all his energy into stopping him. She knew that everyone here in this circle would help also, they would always stick by Harry's side, whenever they were needed. They would be the ones offering support and encouragement for him, and travelling with him wherever he went. They wouldn't let anything happen to Harry, even if it killed them.

Draco noticed Hermione looking off into the distance and wrapped an arm around her.

'What's wrong, love?' He asked. Hermione snapped out of her daze and quickly turned her head to look at Draco before smiling lightly and resting her head on his shoulder.

'I was just thinking that days like this, where everyone was happy and without a care in the world, where numbered. Harry has to start fighting soon, and we'll all be fighting with him. I just, I want to remember days like these, when we have nothing to worry about.' She told him. Draco flinched slightly and wrapped his arm around her tighter before clearing his throat and pulling back, putting his hands on her shoulders. Hermione knew something big was coming.

'Hermione,' He paused, bringing up all his strength. He knew this could possibly hurt her and she could completely blow up. 'Hermione, I don't want you to fight, when the time comes.' Hermione looked at him with curiousness.

'What?' She asked. Draco took another seep breath.

'I don't want you to fight in the final battle.' He said more clearly. Hermione looked at him with shock.

'But, Draco, I have to! I have to stand and fight with Harry! I promised him that I would fight with him till the end! I can't just ignore that promise, Draco!' She cried. Draco sighed.

'But Hermione, by that time, you'll have had the baby, and you'll have to take care of him or her. And I would be able to fight better knowing that you were safe.' He answered. Hermione looked at him with a sour look on her face.

'And you think I'll be able to sit around at Head Quarters, knowing that you could be dead and not coming home to me and your child? I think not.' She said fiercely.

'Well, who's going to look after her if you come and fight? Hermione, Molly hasn't been a mother to a baby in fifteen years, I doubt she has the breast milk to feed it, Tonks doesn't have children and there are no other females that have babies that we know of. Please, I need you to stay home. I won't be able to concentrate if you are out on the field somewhere where I can't see you, and anything could be happening to you. Please, listen to me.' He pleaded. Hermione gazed into his eyes and saw the pain there that would be even more prominent if she were to get hurt, or killed. He was right, she knew that, but she didn't want to acknowledge that to him.

But before she was able to say anything, James jumped into the conversation from his position next to Sirius, who was next to Hermione.

'What was that talk about a baby?' He asked. The whole circle went quiet and started to listen to what was going on in there conversation.

Hermione and Draco exchanged glances.

'This really wasn't the way we wanted to tell you, we even still have to send a letter to Mrs. Weasley and the rest of her family, but, well, Hermione's pregnant. She has been for about four months now.' Draco answered. James looked between the two of them looking dumbstruck, with his mouth hanging open. Sirius rolled his eyes and shut his mouth for him, effectively breaking James out of his trance.

'But, you're only sixteen!' He cried. Harry jumped in before either of them could answer.

'It was a matter of life or death, dad. It was necessity.' Harry answered. James looked confused and Draco summoned the letter that he had gotten from his mother, which had been seen by many more eyes than he would have liked, but it was just easier than having to explain it himself. It would have taken him much longer than James did reading about it.

Potter Senior handed back the letter and nodded.

'I get it now. I thought that curse of yours took a hike years ago, because it didn't seem it affect Lucius, though you may have a step sister that you don't know about running around somewhere. I wouldn't put it past him.' James said to them. Draco scowled.

'You're probably right.' He said angrily. Hermione wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed his shoulder.

'We shouldn't be talking about such depressing things at Christmas. Let's just eat and talk like we should be doing. I'm sure the dinner tonight will be delicious, and I, personally, can't wait for it.' She said. Everyone agreed with her and started up normal conversations. Draco looked down at Hermione and smirked.

'You know, the dress was only part of you present.' He whispered to her. Hermione looked up at him with a slight smile and a raised eyebrow.

'Really?' She asked. Draco nodded, a sly look on his face.

'Yep, just meet me down here after dinner tonight. I'll make sure you get the rest of your present.' He murmured huskily. Hermione groaned and kissed him heatedly.

'Could you two go in a different room to do that please?' Harry asked., effectively killing there little mood. Hermione glared and Draco smirked at him.

'Ruin the fun, Harry.' Hermione grumbled. Harry laughed and went back to his original conversation.

After they had finished talking, they walked downstairs and ate a quick breakfast, before going outside and having snowball fights. Then, they went back inside and had lunch, before relaxing by the fire and talking before heading down to have Christmas dinner in the Great Hall with all the teachers and the students that had stayed after the ball.

James and Sirius spent there time annoying Snape, Remus was talking to Flitwick, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Draco, Sierra, Blaise and Pansy were all talking to each other and Dumbledore was once again playing with the party hats one could get out of Muggle bon-bons, having to burst one with every person at the table.

After dinner, everyone was extremely tired and full, so they went straight up to there rooms, apart from Hermione and Draco, who took the long route together and made there way up to the Room of Requirement, for the other half of Hermione's present.

-

**A/N: Hey! I hope you liked it! I just wanted to say that there aren't going to be too many chapters left, but I will inform you on the title to the sequel when I think of one, and if I stupidly forget to inform you, then yell at me and check out my profile, it'll be on there when I put the first chapter up. I'm going to do things a little differently with it though. I've been putting chapters up as I write them, so now I'm going to write a few chapters, then put them up, and write as I go. It might be easier for me, and you probably won't have to wait as long! Yay!**

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**Thank you to all you guys! You made my day! Please review! Love all of you lots! **

**Sarah xo. **


	30. Chapter Thirty

**A/N: Didn't I promise another chapter soon! I have been working on this chapter for ages, I really hope you like it! Oh, and tell me if I got anything wrong, I think I might have, but I wouldn't know. And guess what? It's a long one! About 11 word pages long! Aren't I great? Lol, you don't have to answer that. Just enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclamier: Don't own, never will. All JKR's. **

**Chapter Thirty**

As the months went by, Draco would never leave Hermione's side, and before he knew it, he could feel the baby kicking inside Hermione's belly as well. He was so overjoyed that whenever he was with Hermione (which was pretty much all the time anyway) He would always have his hand on her stomach, and would crack a huge, wide, goofy grin whenever he felt his child kick.

Hermione thought it was so adorable and amazing that Draco was so into their child. She would always smile at the way his face looked whenever he felt the baby, and would always laugh at his goofy, amazed smile, because Draco was always in awe when he felt it.

The girls thought it was sweet, the way he was always cooing over her and the unborn child, but the boys were starting to get annoyed by it.

'Holy Merlin, Draco! Could you stop that for at least 10 minutes or something! It's driving me mad!' Blaise yelled. Draco looked up and scowled at him.

'You just wait until you have a child Zabini, then you'll know what I feel like right now.' He answered, narrowed and lips pursed. Harry and Ron were laughing at his expression before Draco felt the child kick again and his face broke into another wide grin.

Hermione sighed helplessly at her boyfriend, who was soon to be a father at the tender age of sixteen. She, herself would be turning seventeen in a couple of days, on the 20th of February (A/N: Completely made up day people! I don't know what her birth date is, so I made it up : ) ), and soon after that her child would be born. It was due sometime in early March.

Hermione was ecstatic, but she was also a nervous wreck. She had no idea about what she was supposed to do, and she didn't think Draco had any idea about it either. She didn't want anything to go wrong with this pregnancy, because it would be her and Draco last chance before his stupid family curse came into effect.

They had told Mrs. Weasley and the others back at Head Quarters and they all wished them congratulations and wished them the best. They were all excited for them.

-

The couple of days past with nothing interesting happening, but then it was Hermione's birthday. She both loved and hated the day. She loved it because of the presents she was given, and hated it because of the attention she received. She was never an attention seeking person, though others would say otherwise when they saw her stick up her hand in class to answer a question.

She awoke for the third time this year to Ginny bouncing on her bed, but she was not alone this time, Pansy and Sierra had joined her.

'Happy Birthday, Hermione!' They yelled, waking up Lavender and Parviti along the way. They heard them groan.

'Do you guys think you could at least let us get our beauty sleep for once?' Parviti asked. Sierra looked over to them and raised an eyebrow.

'Honey, no amount of sleep you ever get is going to help that face of yours.' She said pitifully. The four girls on Hermione's bed laughed at the comment, but then Hermione herself groaned.

'I would like some of the beauty sleep too you know. I haven't had a good sleep in a while now.' She said, staring blearily at the offending girls, who just smiled and laughed.

'I'm sure you get good enough sleep whenever you are with Draco, so come on, out of bed, we have presents to give you, and since the boys can't get up here, though I'm sure Draco would love to, you have to go down there to them.' Pansy said. Hermione's eyes snapped open.

'They're down stairs already! What time is it?' She asked, looking at the magic clock beside her bed. '10.30!' Hermione screeched. 'I slept in until 10.30!' The girls on her bed just smirked.

'Obviously someone had a long night last night.' Ginny teased. Hermione made to swat her, but missed as the red-head moved backwards.

'Come on, you two, Draco will be getting nervous by now, you know what he's planning.' Sierra said with a sly wink, and then ran out of the door, Ginny and Pansy behind her. Hermione sighed. She really wanted to know what Draco had planned now, so she put a bra on and walked down the stairs in her pyjamas, which were a pink tank top and pink tracky pyjama pants.

When she got down there, she was blasted off her feet (figuratively) by the loud and resounding 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HERMIONE!' that everyone screamed. Hermione started laughing and blushing at this amount of attention. She never expected anything like this. She thought she would just walk over to her friends, get birthday wishes from them and then open her gifts. But no, someone had gotten all of her friends, even Luna from Ravenclaw, and her entire house, minus Lavender and Parviti, together in the Common Room, and had them all yell happy birthday to her. She was absolutely astonished.

She saw Draco and the rest of her friends walking to the front of the large group with huge smiles on there faces as they watched Hermione's shocked look on her face.

'How was it, love?' Draco asked. Hermione finally got out of her shocked state and threw her arms around him.

'You did this?' She asked in a whisper. She felt Draco nod.

'You deserve everything you can get, baby, who's carrying my baby.' He said. Hermione laughed at his little saying and let go of him, looking towards all her friends. She smiled widely at them.

'You guys are the best.' She said, hugging each one in turn. When she was done, they all looked at her excitedly.

'So, are you ready for your presents?' Ron asked. Hermione laughed and nodded.

'Yes, I am.' She answered, trying not to look to eager, but it didn't get past her friends.

'Don't look too eager Hermione.' Sierra teased. Hermione bumped her lightly and poked her tongue out at her. They made their way over to the chairs surrounding the fire, and they all took their seats, with everyone still around them, looking on eagerly to see what Hermione got for her birthday.

She looked around at them all nervously.

'What are they all still doing here?' She asked Draco in a hiss. Draco laughed softly.

'That, my dear, you will find out soon enough.' He answered mysteriously. Hermione looked at him suspiciously, but let it drop.

She started to open her presents as they were handed to her by her friends. She got many things, but mostly it was jewellery and make-up. Hermione didn't know how she was going to wear all of it. She did still wear the Dragon pendant that Draco gave her last Christmas though. She loved it, and wore it everyday.

Some of her other presents included shirts, skirts, and even a lacy pair of lingerie from Ginny. It was a deep forest green with black lacy edging. When Hermione saw it her eyes grew wide and she quickly hid it from view, but not before Draco saw it and started bursting out into fits of laughter. Hermione shot him a warning look and he stopped laughing immediately, but he was still trying to contain his smile. Hermione faced Ginny.

'Ginny!! What the hell?!' She yelled. Ginny burst into huge fits of laughter like Draco did before, and gasped out her answer in between huge gulps of air.

'I thought . . . they would . . . come in handy!' She gasped out, breaking into a fresh peel of laughter. Draco wrapped his arms tightly around Hermione's waist and leaned in towards her ear.

'We could put those to good use.' He murmured huskily, making Hermione shiver. She turned her head around and kissed him heatedly.

'We most certainly will.' She answered in a whisper, both breathing deeply. Draco grinned and straightened up.

'Now, it's time for my present.' He said. He was smiling, but Hermione could see the nervousness in his eyes. She wondered what was going on. He was always so calm and confident when it came to her gifts. Then he pulled something from inside his robes and bent down on one knee. Hermione's eyes widened in realization and tears sprung up in her eyes. Draco cleared his throat.

'Hermione Jane Granger. I don't have much to say, but what I do comes from the heart. I love you, my darling. I always have and I always will. You own my heart, and you can do with it what you will, but I hope you will keep it. I started to fall for you in fourth year, when I saw you all dressed up, ready to go meet your date for the Yule Ball. Let's just say I was very jealous of Krum that night. I realised it was love during that holiday break, and I knew I had to get you to love me too somehow. At that moment I didn't care what my parents would think, I only cared about how much I loved you and needed you. Hermione, you are my light and dark, and I want to spend every night and day with you for the rest of my life. Hermione Granger, will you do my the greatest honour, of becoming my wife?' He announced. Hermione was still staring down at him in a slight shock with tears running down her cheeks and love shining in her eyes. All she could do was nod. Draco stood up tall and pulled Hermione into a tight hug and passionate kiss.

Everyone around them burst into cheers and laughter, but all with huge smiles on their faces as the looked at the newly engaged couple.

-

For the next couple of weeks, all Hermione and Draco could do was smile, they were so happy about the engagement. Everyone that witnessed it though was told to keep it on the hush, and was not allowed to mention it to anyone that wasn't there, or anyone period.

Hermione wore the ring on a silver chain around her neck, so no one would know, and only pulled it out and played with when she was sure no one was looking.

Ginny, Sierra and Pansy were all starting to make wedding plans. Hermione had appointed Ginny as Maid of Honour, and the other two as Bridesmaids, but nothing else could be done for the moment. Draco and Hermione had both decided to have the wedding after the war. They didn't want the added weight of that on top of looking after the child and having to fight. Pansy, Sierra and Ginny also couldn't agree on what they wanted to place to look like. Draco and Hermione had given them full reign, but everything had to go through them before it was fully decided and they had last preference. If the couple didn't like it, it was changed. The three girls had willingly agreed.

Harry had taken a different approach. He knew that as soon as Voldemort knew about the child and engagement, he would strike quickly and swiftly to eliminate them. So, he started up a club, one that the members had decided on naming the DA, standing for Dumbledore's Army, because Albus Dumbledore was the only man alive that struck fear into the heart of the Dark Lord Voldemort.

The DA was taught by Harry, and in it they learned how to fight, and the different spells they would need on the battlefield. They met whenever they could, and anyone who wanted to enter it could, because everyone would need to know how to duel and fight properly in battle.

James and Sirius would often be seen walking around with Harry, helping him with his plans and schedules for training. Remus would often look into the DA meetings and offer advice and new spells to learn. Harry would also ask the group if they knew any hand-to-hand combat, because if they lost their wand they didn't want to be completely defenceless. It turned out that many of the muggle born students knew Karate and Tae Kwon Do, or boxing or something of that sort, and taught them things that would be very useful.

Often other people would come in for one or two lessons, and would learn as much as they could, before leaving at the end. Most people would come a couple of times infrequently, then miss a few. Others just came when they wanted to.

Remus would teach the students useful spells in class, as would Flitwick. The other teachers also decided to take on the positions of teaching the students things they would need during the war. It had to be done.

Soon enough, everyone was learning everything they needed to fight in the war. Even though Hermione was pregnant, and due in a couple of days, she was learning all she could, though it was against what Draco thought should happen. He didn't like the idea of her doing anything, but he knew that if she didn't know then she would most likely be killed in some sort of struggle. It was better for her to know than not.

Both Hermione and Draco were now counting down the days until the child would be due. They knew it would be soon, and Hermione constantly went in for check-ups with Madam Pomfrey. They were both getting very anxious, but the Matron told them that everything was going along perfectly.

Draco would never let her leave his sight anymore. He wanted to be there when Hermione needed to go into the hospital. He didn't want to her to go through the first part alone.

Hermione didn't mind, she liked having him there, he was her comfort, and she didn't know what she would do without him. They only time they were separate, and this was by force, was when they had to say goodnight and go to sleep.

But unfortunately for them, that was exactly when it happened.

Hermione awoke with sharp pains in her lower body, and looked down to find a huge puddle of water on her bed. Her eyes grew wide and then scrunched up again as she had another contraction. _I have to find Ginny._ Was the first thought that ran through her mind.

Trying to make as less noise as possible, Hermione left the room and walked as carefully as she could down the stairs. She opened Ginny's door and made her way over to the younger girls bed, and that was when she noticed that her concealment charm had worn off. _Crap._ She thought. Forgetting about it for the moment, she quietly woke Ginny from her slumber.

'Ginny, Ginny! Get up!' She hissed, then she actually hissed as another contraction hit.

Ginny awoke slowly and looked over with confused and bleary eyes at Hermione.

'Hermione? What's going on? What happened to your concealment charm?' She asked tiredly. Then she took in Hermione's state, and her eyes widened.

'Shit! Are you having the baby?' She asked. Hermione nodded. Ginny quickly got out of bed and grabbed her dressing gown, before grabbing Hermione's arms and helping her out the door and down the stairs once again.

'How are you feeling?' Ginny asked once they were out in the corridor, outside the Gryffindor Common Room. Hermione flashed Ginny a glance before looking back down at the floor and where she was walking again.

'Horrible, it's so painful.' She answered. Ginny nodded.

'Just take deep breaths, deep breaths.' Ginny said. Hermione nodded and started taking deep breaths, as Ginny helped her down even more stairs, all the way down to the infirmary.

The walk was a long one, Hermione couldn't go very fast, and the stairs were tiring, but they got there in the end, and Ginny pushed the door open with a bang.

'Madam Pomfrey! Come quickly!' She yelled. They both saw the Matron rushing out of the door, tying up her dressing gown as she went.

'Oh Merlin!' She breathed. 'Come here Miss Granger, onto this bed, yes, steady now. Miss Weasley, go get Mr. Malfoy and the others, they'll all want to know.' She ordered. Ginny nodded, squeezed Hermione's hand and smiled one more time before bolting out of the infirmary and down to the dungeons first.

Madam Pomfrey put a numbing charm on Hermione and the girl began to relax. The Matron smiled kindly at her.

'Right, that should keep you. Just remember to take deep breaths and relax. I'll be right back with everything I need.' She said. Hermione nodded and the elderly Matron walked off.

Hermione laid there with her eyes closed, with a light layer of sweat on her face. She wasn't alone for long as she saw a blonde something fly into the infirmary. It raced over to her side and sat on the chair beside her bed. She smiled as she saw the nervous face of her Fiancé.

'Are you alright? How are you feeling? Ginny just came and got me and I ran all the way up those stairs, I was so scared for you-' He started to say but Hermione cut him off with a finger to his lips.

'I'm fine, Madam Pomfrey put a Numbing Charm on me so I wouldn't feel any of the pain. I'll be fine. Where's Blaise, Pansy and Sierra?' She asked. Draco looked a little calmer, but still rather frantic.

'They went with Ginny to get the others, they should be here soon.' He answered, then they saw Madam Pomfrey come back.

-

After Ginny had gotten down to the dungeons, she quickly realised that she wouldn't be able to get in without a password. She looked thoughtful for a moment, before finally just banging on the wall that hid the Slytherin Common Room and yelled like crazy. Unfortunately, or fortunately, whichever way you want to put it, she woke up Snape, but not anyone in the actual House.

'Miss Weasley what on Earth do you think you are doing?' He asked. Ginny span around to face him, panting heavily.

'Hermione's about to give birth sir, I need to get Draco and the others.' She gasped. Yelling and running had taken it out of her. Snape scowled and give her the password, following her inside and woke up the boys, as Ginny went in search for the girls.

They soon had them rounded up and Ginny told them the situation. As soon as the words, "Hermione's giving birth", came out of Ginny's mouth, all of them where left in Draco's dust as he sprinted out the door and up to the infirmary. Ginny quickly took the others and they ran up to the Gryffindor Common Room.

Opening the Common Room, Ginny and everyone else rushes up to the Boys' Dormitory. They slam open the door, waking everyone in the dorm with a jolt. They all jumped up, rubbing their eyes sleepily, all except for Harry, who had his wand in his hand and glasses on his face already, ready to fight. Ginny rolled her eyes.

'Put the wand down Harry. Hermione's gone into the Hospital Wing. Draco's already there, come on, we have to hurry.' She said in a rush. Ron and Harry jumped at the news and chucked robes on before rushing out of the dorm, leaving a very confused Seamus, Dean and Neville in their wake.

They raced down the stairs to see Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape all waiting outside the Infirmary doors, looking slightly panicked. McGonagall was pacing, Dumbledore was wringing his hands and Snape was clenching and unclenching his fists. They ran up to them, panting heavily and resting their hands on their knees, heads down and breathing deeply, trying to get their breath back. Ginny was the first to look up.

'Are we allowed in?' She asked. Dumbledore shook his head gravely.

'Madam Pomfrey won't let anyone in until the child is born. She says that she doesn't want to stress Miss Granger out.' He explained. Ginny and the others looked slightly put off, but nodded all the same. Blaise put his ear to the door, trying to hear something going on inside.

'There is no point, Mr. Zabini.' Snape said with a shaky voice. 'The door has been silenced, so no students outside, wanting to come in can hear, and the door is locked, so they wouldn't be able to get in anyway.' Blaise nodded and stood with Ginny, wrapping his arm around her and holding her tight the others doing the same to their loved ones. Snape rolled his eyes, but McGonagall and Dumbledore smiled.

They had waited until the early hours of the morning before Madam Pomfrey opened the doors to the Infirmary and announced the new arrival, letting them all in and shutting the door behind them, locking and silencing it again.

When they walked in, they all smiled (yes, including Snape, though his wasn't seen by anyone) at the sight before them. Draco and Hermione were both laying on the bed, a baby in Hermione's arms Hermione in Draco's. Both had the biggest grins on their faces, thought Hermione's was more tired. They looked up to see their friends and teachers entering and Draco beckoned them closer.

They all crowded around the bed and the girls started cooing at the sleeping child in Hermione's arms. Draco smiled even bigger, if that were possible at the lot of them.

'Everyone,' he whispered. 'I'd like you to meet Scorpius John Granger-Malfoy. Well, it's Granger-Malfoy for the moment.' Ginny looked curiously at them.

'Why John?' She asked. Hermione smiled.

'It's my father's name.' She answered. They nodded with approval. Sierra squealed.

'Can I hold my little cousin?' She asked. Draco laughed quietly. He took Scorpius from Hermione's arms and gave him carefully to Sierra, who took him just as carefully. For the next half and hour, Scorpius went through everyone's arms at least once. Then Hermione and Draco decided to tell them who they wanted as Godparents.

'Do you guys want to know who the Godparents are?' Hermione asked. They all looked up at her and smiled, nodding enthusiastically. They both laughed quietly. Hermione had Scorpius passed back to her and she looked back up at them all before looking at Draco.

'Harry, we wanted you and Pansy to be the Godparents. You, because you would be a brilliant godfather, and Pansy because we needed a Slytherin in there somewhere.' They laughed at this and focused back on the baby. Pansy piped up.

'Thank you, it means so much that you would think of us.' Harry nodded along with her speech and they both gave the happy parents a hug.

'Hey, it's our pleasure.' Draco said. Dumbledore spoke up.

'Well, we better let the two of you get some sleep, I'm sure Hermione is a very tired woman right now.' He said. Hermione smiled and nodded, giving a huge yawn to prove it. The younger people in the room chuckled.

'Let us take our leave.' Snape said. The students all gave them all one last hug before exiting, leaving the adults with the two new parents. Dumbledore stepped up and shook Draco's hand before kissing Hermione on the forehead.

'You two will make amazing parents, but we will have to work out how we will work around the baby tomorrow, after you have had a good nights sleep. Congratulations to the both of you.' He said. They thanked him and Dumbledore left. McGonagall came up next and gave both of them a hug.

'You have done extremely well Hermione, for one who is only just seventeen. I am so proud of you.' She said, cupping Hermione's face in her hands. Hermione's eyes started to water.

'Thank you, Professor.' She whispered. McGonagall smiled.

'The situation will be told to the staff, so they will be know what's going on if you are called to the Infirmary. Don't worry, everything will go along just fine.' She assured Hermione. The girl nodded and smiled at her elderly Professor before again saying goodbye and being left with one, Severus Snape.

Snape came up to the both of them and shook Draco's hand, before doing something completely out of character and kissing Hermione on the forehead, like Dumbledore did. Hermione looked at him in thinly veiled shock and he let the side of his lips quirk upward in a small sort of smile.

'You have done well, Miss Granger. You have my congratulations. Your son is a very beautiful boy.' He said. Hermione smiled and nodded. Draco grinned.

'Guess what, Sev, you're going to be called Grandpa from now on.' He said. Snape glared at him.

'I will be called no such thing.' He said. Draco's grin softened and died.

'I don't have a father that I would want to introduce my son to. I want you to take Lucius' place.' He said. Snape looked shocked, but then his eyes softened and if you looked close enough, you could see that they almost had tears in them.

'Of course I will. I'm honoured that you want me to be part of young Scorpius' life.' He said softly. Hermione smiled.

'We wouldn't want anyone else. You've looked after Draco so well, we're sure you'll do the same for Scorpius.' Hermione said. Snape looked back and forth between the two and smiled a true smile for the first time in many, many years.

'Thank you. I would be proud to be called grandpa, thought I do seem a bit too young for the title.' He added. Draco laughed and the baby stirred slightly. Hermione shushed him and he went to sleep again. Draco smiled at them.

'You aren't too young. Bet you didn't think you were ever going to be a grandpa though.' He teased. Snape rolled his eyes.

'Of course I didn't. I've never had children.' He answered sharply. Hermione smiled and yawned. Snape noticed.

'Well, I better take my leave as well. Congratulations, both of you. And thank you.' He finished, before walking out of the Hospital Wing and back to his dungeons. Draco and Hermione looked at each other and Draco smoothed the hair back on her head before kissing it.

'Go to sleep, my love. You have done brilliantly, now it is time for you to rest.' He whispered, a slight smile playing on his face. Hermione smiled back and laid fully down on the bed, Draco leaning over her.

'Goodnight, my love.' She whispered, closing her eyes and quickly falling asleep. Draco smiled down at her.

'Goodnight to you too, sweetheart. I love you.' He said.

-

Hermione awoke early in the afternoon to the squeals of a baby laying on her stomach. She looked down and memories from earlier that morning flooded back to her. Beside her lay Draco, breathing deeply, and obviously not affected by the squeals of little Scorpius.

Hermione picked him up and tried to shush him with a pat on the back and bobbing up and down either side. At that moment, Madam Pomfrey ripped open the curtains and shut them behind her. She turned to Hermione and raised an eyebrow.

'He's hungry. Don't worry, you'll soon know what he wants and be able to differentiate between the squeals and screams that will come from his mouth. Be careful though, you won't get much sleep for quite a while. Just be glad that you don't have any exams that you will have to concentrate on. He looks like he'll keep you awake most of the night.' She added, nodding to Scorpius. Hermione groaned and the Matron hit Draco in the shoulder, causing him to snort loudly before waking up, blinking furiously.

'What?' He asked confusedly, listening as Hermione giggled. Madam Pomfrey looked at him disapprovingly.

'Get up and out. Miss Granger here has to feed your child.' She ordered crisply. Draco nodded blearily, turned, gave Hermione a quick kiss good morning before stumbling out of bed and outside the curtain. Madam Pomfrey shook her head and looked back at Hermione.

She directed her on how to feed little Scorpius, then allowed Draco back in to be with his fiancé and child.

'How is he?' He asked quietly. Hermione smiled and looked down at him.

'He's fine now, he was just hungry before.' She answered just as quietly. She looked up at Draco with a serious expression.

'Is anyone out there?' She asked. Draco shook his head.

'Madam Pomfrey has blocked off our little area so no one can get in, or hear us.' He answered. Hermione smiled in relief and looked back down at her son, who slept soundly in her arms.

'What are we going to do, Draco?' She asked. Draco looked at her confusedly.

'What do you mean?' He asked.

'Well, we can't exactly live in separate dorms with Scor here now. And I don't want to bring him into the Gryffindor Tower, questions will be asked. How are we going to do it?' She questioned. Draco looked pensive.

'We'll talk to Dumbledore about it when he comes to talk to us about what's going to happen when we go to classes and such, okay, love?' He answered. Hermione nodded, still analysing her sons' face.

'He really is beautiful.' She whispered. Draco grinned.

'I know. He really is my son though. I can already see his blonde little hair. It's almost invisible.' He said. Hermione laughed.

'It is, too. His eyes are brown though.' She retorted. Draco narrowed his eyes.

'Damn, I wanted him to have my eyes. But yours are just as beautiful, if not more so.' He teased. Hermione hit his shoulder.

'Shut up, you. He'll still be beautiful when he grows up, and he'll have all the girls falling for him.' She said. Draco snorted.

'I hope he does. He won't be a real Malfoy if he doesn't.' He added. Hermione gave him a look, but just then, Dumbledore walked in on the happy scene.

'Sleeping, is he?' The old Headmaster asked. They both nodded and Albus smiled gently.

'He is a very handsome little boy.' He said. Draco and Hermione grinned.

'We were just talking about that.' Hermione said. Dumbledore chuckled.

'Well, I guess it is time to talk about what is going to happen in this situation.' He started. Draco and Hermione nodded and waited for him to continue.

'We are going to have to make an excuse for you running out of class all the time to feed Scorpius, and other such things. Madam Pomfrey should be able to change diapers, but you are going to have to feed him.' He said. Hermione nodded; she already knew that.

'What about, I'm helping Madam Pomfrey out with a newborn child that was placed outside the gate and was found. That what help with any rumours if someone saw me with him.' She suggested. Dumbledore nodded, looking deep in thought.

'Yes, that would work. I'll inform her of it immediately. Now, what of sleeping arrangements? I'm sure this was an issue on your minds.' He smiled knowingly. They both flushed and nodded their heads. Draco spoke this time.

'We don't want to be separated from him at night, and we also don't want to stay in the Hospital Wing all the time. We were hoping that we could get our own room.' He asked hesitantly. Dumbledore again looked deep in thought, thinking over his answer.

'Yes, I think that would be the only answer. You wouldn't want to inconvenience Madam Pomfrey and you wouldn't want the questions from your dorm mates and such. Though, we will also have to make up an excuse for that, too.' He added thoughtfully. Hermione brightened up.

'We can say that Draco is helping by being a father figure, and for us to play the part accordingly we have to stay in the same room.' She looked highly pleased with herself. Dumbledore nodded agreeably.

'That sounds like a brilliant idea. And since the whole school knows about you two dating, although, that really isn't applicable anymore, is it? They won't have a problem with it. Can I see the ring?' He asked suddenly, catching Hermione by surprise. She smiled and pulled her hand out from underneath her son and showed the Headmaster the emerald and ruby ring that Draco had given her. It had the emerald in the middle, with two smaller red rubies on either side. It was very beautiful.

'That is a most gorgeous ring. Good choice, Mr. Malfoy.' He complimented. Draco flushed and thanked him.

'Mother sent it to me. It was my grandmothers on her side.' He muttered. Hermione looked up at him with curiosity.

'Why didn't you tell me?' She asked. Draco grinned.

'Mother wanted you to think I actually spent money on you, instead of just using a family heirloom. I personally thought that the family heirloom gesture held more meaning, but you know my mother.' He answered. Hermione smiled nodded.

'So, Scorpius, is going to stay in here during the day, and with us during the night, is that right, sir?' Hermione went back on topic. Dumbledore nodded.

'Yes, that is correct. I will get around to getting your room ready now. I trust, whether I give you separate beds or not, you will only sleep in one?' He asked with a slight smile and amusement twinkling in his blue eyes. Hermione flushed and Draco grinned.

'Right you are, sir.' Draco said. Dumbledore chuckled at his forwardness, and patted his arm.

'Well, I shall go then and leave you with your child, though, from what I can smell, when I leave there won't be much pleasantness.' He added, chuckling even more. Hermione and Draco sniffed the air and looked down at their son, just to see him wake up and start crying.

-

Later that afternoon, when Madam Pomfrey felt it time enough for Hermione, Draco and Scorpius to leave, she sent all of the things they would need to their new room, and Dumbledore showed them where it was, during dinner, which they had eaten in the Hospital Wing, so none of the students would see them. The next day they would be telling their classmates the made up story of Scorpius.

The room was beautiful. It had a fireplace lit already for them, and an emerald green couch sitting in front of it, accompanied on either side by two chairs, this time a deep red. The carpet was a matching shade of red, and off to the left side was a kitchen, and to the right was a bedroom.

The bedroom had a massive King Size bed, with green sheets and doona, and red carpet. The pillows were very big and fluffy, and a matching green to the rest of the bed. There was a vanity in one corner, a rocking-chair in another, a wardrobe against a free wall made of mahogany, and a babies cot and changing table sitting near the bed.

Draco winced when he saw it, imagining himself tripping over the changing table in the middle of the night on the way to the toilet, which was located off their bedroom.

Next to the bed, on either side, were two bedside tables, with drawers in them, and a chest of drawers sat next to it, towering over the bed with how many drawers it had. At least it would fit all of their clothes.

Dumbledore chuckled at their awed expressions.

'Well, I will leave you to it.' He said, and left them in their room.

-

**A/N: Hey guys! I really hope you enjoyed that, and I hope you tell me if i did something wrong, because that is what nice people would do. Anyway, here are the people that reviewed the last chapter!**

**Robyn Hawkes**

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**cornilia243**

**Rebecca**

**christy86 (For my other story Not Everything, just thought I'd mention her)**

**LibraryChild**

**Harry's Love Can Conquer All**

**suzieq2005**

**blackXroseXpaino93**

**thebritstir**

**Thanks to all of you who reviewed and did alerts and stuff. I love you all so much! Yay for my fastest update yet! Have a great day, or not, wherever you are from, whatever day it is. It's night here now, while I'm writing this. Well, back on track, thanks guys! See you next time!**

**Sarah xo. **


	31. Chapter Thirty One

**A/N: Whoo! I know, it has been so long since I last updated, I am ashamed of myself. But I have a kind-of-not-lame excuse!I had about three assignments given to me, all to be handed back within the closest time, and my computer wasn't running and all these other really lame excuses. I'm sorry, but I find Italian a hard subject, and HPE (Health and Phys Ed). The HPE one was on the environment! WTF! Anyway, I'll stop my rambleing now, and let you read the story. Love all you guys for staying with this story! Thanks so much!**

**Chapter Thirty One**

The next day was when everything started to get a bit difficult. When Hermione woke up, she realised that she didn't know how to get Scorpius down to the Hospital Wing without being seen with a baby in her arms. She didn't quite want to have to use the story yet, she wanted to tell her friends about what they had thought up for a safety plan first.

She heard Draco stir beside her. They had both been up twice each last night to feed and tend to their child. Hermione didn't know how she was ever going to stay awake in class. At least the teachers would know what was going on if she did and wouldn't punish her for it. She could just imagine them cooing over Scorpius in her head. She didn't know whether to shudder or be proud.

Draco turned over at that moment and wrapped his arm around her middle, kissing her neck, though his eyes were still closed.

'Good morning baby.' He murmured sleepily. Hermione smiled at him.

'Good morning to you, too.' She muttered back. Draco groaned and stretched.

'What time is it?' He asked. Hermione sighed and checked the clock that sat on the bedside table. Her eyes widened.

'Merlin! Its 9 already! We'll be late for class!' She shouted. Draco jumped too and they quickly got out of bed and dressed, with no time for showers. They groomed themselves and went straight over to where Scorpius was sleeping.

'Who's going to take him to the Hospital Wing?' Hermione asked. Draco looked thoughtful.

'Why don't you take him and I'll explain it to Snape. I have more control over the man, even after his little emotional performance the other day.' Draco smirked. Hermione gave him a disapproving look.

'Don't beat him up about that. He wouldn't want people knowing and I'm not about to tell anyone, so neither should you.' She scolded. Draco grinned and took her in his arms.

'Of course I'm not going to tell anyone. I respect the man for showing his deep emotions to us the night before. I won't make fun of him. Promise.' He said, though Hermione didn't know whether to believe him or not because he was still grinning. But, she sighed and smiled.

'Alright. I love you. I'll take Scorpius. You go and sort out Snape.' She kissed him once, and then picked up the little boy out of his bed. Draco took him from her and hugged and kissed him as well, before giving him back and pulling Hermione to him, kissing her passionately. When he pulled away, Hermione looked slightly dazed and unfocused. Draco smiled at her and kissed her lightly once more.

'I love you. I'll see you in Potions.' He whispered, walking out the door and towards class.

Hermione left soon after, when she had gotten her brain back in order and hugged her son to her closely. She dressed him in rather warm clothing for this time in the morning and walked down to the Hospital Wing, thanking Merlin that she didn't meet anyone along the way. And that Snape was her first teacher. He would understand. He was there.

When she entered, she walked right down to the little Nursery that she could see set up right at the back of the Infirmary. As she approached, she could see Madam Pomfrey there, fixing a few last minute things up.

'Madam Pomfrey?' She asked. The Matron turned around and saw her and Scorpius and smiled.

'Good morning, Miss Granger. How is he?' She asked, taking the boy from Hermione's arms and cooed over him. Hermione smiled and rolled her eyes fondly.

'He's doing fine, but Draco and I are another story entirely. He woke us up four times last night. I love him and all, but could he at least let us get some sleep?' She asked. Madam Pomfrey smiled and chuckled.

'Do not worry about it, my dear. He will get better. You just have to wait a while.' She said. Hermione sighed and looked at her little one in the Matrons arms. He was now getting put into the little cot that stood before them.

'You should know, Miss Granger, that I will call you by Floo if and when I need you, alright?' Madam Pomfrey explained, making the still sleeping child comfortable in his blankets. Hermione laughed as he fussed.

'Yes, Madam Pomfrey. He even fusses when he sleeps.' She muttered to herself, still smiling fondly at the child in the cot. Madam Pomfrey chuckled lightly.

'Yes,' she told the younger woman. 'That will happen. Now, off to class with you. Your professor will have your head if you come too late. Now off you go.' Madam Pomfrey shooed her after Hermione had kissed Scorpius on the head.

Hermione hurried down the corridors to class, eventually knocking on the dungeon door and entering quietly, with a look of apology on her face.

'Sorry I'm late, Professor.' She muttered, after having walked up to him through the aisles of desks with cauldrons bubbling on them.

'That is quite alright Miss Granger. Draco told me what was going on.' He muttered back to her with a nod, making sure the rest of the class didn't hear. Hermione nodded back to him and took her seat next to Draco and Harry.

'Miss Granger, the instructions are on the board.' Snape called out lazily from his desk.

'Yes, sir.' She replied, taking out all of her things and getting started on the potion on the board. Draco leaned towards her.

'So, how did it go with Pomfrey?' He asked. Hermione smiled.

'The little boy was out like a light the entire time. Why couldn't he be like that last night? I could've actually gotten some sleep.' She muttered. Draco snorted quietly.

'Of course he wouldn't. Didn't you know? Babies are nocturnal.' He answered, smirking. Hermione shot him a look.

'Ha ha, very funny.' She retorted. Draco just grinned. 'Well, anyway, she said he would be keeping us awake for a while, so we better get used to it.' Draco groaned.

'Why couldn't we have a good child that went to bed when we wanted him to and slept all night?' He muttered to himself. Hermione giggled.

'Because you're the father.' She whispered back. Draco shot her a play-glare and poked her in the side, causing her to squeal slightly and for Harry and Ron to send her funny looks. She just blushed and went back to what she was doing.

'Thank you for embarrassing me.' She muttered at Draco.

'Harry and Ron were the only ones to hear it, why be embarrassed?' He asked. Hermione just shook her head and got on with her potion.

The rest of the day went relatively smoothly. The only interruption was during Transfiguration. Madam Pomfrey's head appeared in the fireplace and instantly Draco and Hermione's heads snapped up to look at her. She smiled fondly at the two and spoke quietly to Pr. McGonagall for a couple of seconds before her head disappeared.

Pr. McGonagall turned around and approached Hermione and Draco's desk.

'Miss Granger, you are needed in the Infirmary.' She told her in a quiet tone. Hermione nodded and packed up her belongings and kissed Draco's cheek, telling him that she would inform him of what was going on when she came back. Draco nodded and looked on concernedly.

'I'll be waiting for you.' He answered in return. Hermione smiled.

'I love you.' She whispered.

'You too.' He answered in reply. Hermione left in a hurry after that and reached the Hospital Wing in no time. She burst through the doors and practically ran straight through to where her son was staying.

'Madam Pomfrey?' She called frantically. The old Matron came around the corner of the curtain with a huge look of relief on her face.

'Thank God you're here. He's been squealing for a good five minutes. I had to put a charm on the curtains so you couldn't hear it on the outside.' She grumbled. Hermione chuckled.

'Is he hungry?' She asked. The Matron nodded and Hermione went into her little Scorpius, squealing up a storm inside of his curtains. Hermione rushed to him and picked him up out of his crib, bouncing the rocking the boy until he calmed down some, before sitting on the chair situated beside the child's bed and feeding him. After burping the little boy, she put him back in his crib and kissed his head, waiting until he fell asleep again to abandon his side.

She met Madam Pomfrey on the outside of the curtain and gave her a quick smile.

'He'll be fine. He's been fed now. I better go back to class, I'll see you later Madam Pomfrey.' She explained. The Matron nodded.

'Thank you, Miss Granger. He really does have a very loud squeal to him. I feel for you at night, my dear.' She said back to her, patting her on the shoulder before turning and walking off to see to another patient waiting on a bed further away. Hermione left the Infirmary and made her way to dinner, which had just stared, and sat herself in between Ron and Ginny, both turning to her in an instant.

'What happened, what was wrong?' Ginny asked impatiently. Hermione smiled.

'The little one was hungry, that's all it was.' She answered, and then saw the relief flooding through her face. She smiled at her and tucked into her lunch. She looked up once to see Draco staring anxiously at her from the Slytherin table. She smiled reassuringly at him and watched as a relaxed expression crossed his face before turning back to his friends. Hermione looked back at her friends and just watched them talking cheerily with each other about the craziest things.

She was thinking about what they all would have thought if, a couple of years ago, someone had told them that they were going to all going to fall in love with Slytherins, Ron would gone red in the face and punched them, Harry would have looked at them like they needed psychiatric help, Ginny would have laughed and Hermione herself would have rolled her eyes and walked off, shaking her head at their stupidness. None of them would have guessed that said imaginary person was right. Hermione smiled again and shook her head at the thoughts she was having. It was rather random of her to think about stuff like that.

After lunch finished, Hermione met Draco in the Entrance Hall and they both walked to their next class. During said class, Draco asked what happened in the hospital wing.

'He was hungry.' She answered, shrugging. Draco nodded.

'That's good.' He replied. Hermione raised an eyebrow.

'Not for me,' she hissed at him. 'Your son bites.' Draco snorted.

'Just like his father.' He answered with a wink. Hermione glared at him and hit his arm, while he laughed and earned a glare from their teacher. Draco just grinned back to her and went back to working. Hermione sighed and shook her head. She seemed to be doing that a lot.

The rest of the day was spent joking, checking on little Scorpius after dinner in the Infirmary, and talking in the Room of Requirement.

Just before bed, Hermione and Draco walked down to see Madam Pomfrey to collect their son. Finding her changing the little boy, they walked over and Hermione took over from her.

'Here, Madam Pomfrey, let me do it.' Hermione said. The Matron let her take it from her and started to speak to Draco.

'So, how are you going with it all Mr. Malfoy?' She asked. Draco smiled.

'It's been alright. Though, the getting up at horrible hours of the morning is getting ridiculous, and I've only had him a night so far.' He answered. Madam Pomfrey chuckled.

'Of course, you will have to put up with that for a while. Though, he should be getting better within another year or something like that. It depends on the child.' She replied. Draco nodded and looked thoughtful, and then a huge grin broke out on his face.

'Well, he is mine, so, I'm guessing we won't be getting much sleep at all until he goes to Hogwarts and leaves home.' He said, laughing. Hermione groaned, picking up her son and cradling him in his arms.

'That is definitely nothing to be laughing about.' She said. Draco just kept grinning and they said goodbye to Madam Pomfrey before walking out of the hospital wing and heading in the direction of their dorm.

They encountered a minor problem along the way, though.

Lavender Brown and Parviti Patil were walking the opposite way down the corridor. The stopped dead at the sight of Hermione with a baby in her arms that was playing with her hair while laughing, and Draco standing with his arm around her waist, standing on her right. To them, the couple were the picture of the perfect family.

The two girls let their jaws drop, and openly stared at the two. Draco looked back at them with wide eyes for a second, but used his long-abandoned skills of schooling his features, to look like nothing was wrong. He wrapped his arm tighter around Hermione and got her to keep walking.

'Act like nothing is wrong.' He muttered under his breath to her, making sure not to move his lips as he said it. Hermione gave the slightest of nods and gave him a slight half-smile, proving her acting abilities. Draco smiled back.

'Holy Merlin. I knew it.' Lavender whispered. Hermione rolled her eyes.

'No, Lavender, I was never pregnant. This little one was dumped out the front of the school and the Headmaster took him in. He then gave him to me and Draco to take care of him. So, you can take that thought out of your head right now.' She snapped. Lavender and Parviti still stood there gaping for what seemed like hours, even after Draco and Hermione had walked off, then they started gossiping together and made their way to the Gryffindor common room to spread the news of the baby being taken care of by Hermione and her boyfriend.

-

Hermione and Draco were once again awoken many times that night to take care of Scorpius. By the time they had to get up for real, they were both absolutely exhausted.

'It's your turn to take Scor to the Infirmary.' Hermione mumbled. Draco just nodded, not up to arguing with her, and picked up the newly awake little baby, who had become conscious at the sound of his parents moving around their rooms/apartment.

Hermione and Draco snapped more alert when they heard someone smartly rapping on the portrait that allowed entrance into their rooms. Hermione went to go get it and opened the portrait hole to reveal a harassed and gasping Ginny. Said girl pushed past Hermione and collapsed onto the chair by the fireplace.

'Ginny, what's wrong?' Hermione asked, going to sit next to her and grabbing her arm. Draco came down the stairs soon after, with a squealing-with-happiness Scorpius in his arms. He creased his brows when he saw who was sitting on his chair.

'Gin, what's up?' He asked.

'I just asked the same thing, but she's yet to answer.' Hermione retorted back. Draco nodded and sat down on the other side of Ginny, passing Scorpius to Hermione as he did so. Hermione took the child into her arms and shushed him, getting him to affectively calm down. Ginny finally caught her breath.

'Lavender and Parviti spread all over Gryffindor that Scorpius is your son. We tried to deny it, but no one was listening to us, they were all spreading it. Not even Harry could stop the rumours.' She explained. Draco and Hermione looked at each other in horror. Hermione gulped.

'Well, we'll just have to talk to Dumbledore and get him to put a stop to it, won't we?' She said, trying to sound brave, hugging Scorpius tight to her. Draco nodded with grim determination.

'I'll have a talk to him during breakfast, this morning.' He said. Hermione nodded and patted Ginny on the arm.

'You tried all you could, Gin. For that, we are thankful.' She told her. Ginny nodded and got up.

'Well, we have to get to breakfast, whoever it is that isn't taking Scorpius to the Infirmary.' The younger girl said. Hermione grinned.

'That would be me. Have fun, Draco.' She chirped, giving him a quick kiss, passing him Scorpius, grabbing her robes off the back of the couch and leaving after Ginny, calling a quick, "I love you!" after her. Draco smiled and shook his head, grabbed his own robes and tucked his son more firmly into his arms.

'Come on you. To the Infirmary we go.' He muttered, leaving the safety of the room and walking down to the Infirmary, Scorpius squealing happily in his arms the entire way.

He saw a couple of people that were making their way down to breakfast that gave him weird looks from having a baby in his arms, but he paid them no mind and kept walking. He looked down at the little boy.

'You know, you really are ruining my image.' He said to him. Scorpius just giggled some more with that big, bright smile on his face and reached up to pull Draco's hair, which was hanging loosely around his face. Draco chuckled and pushed his hair back, making it impossible for the little one to get. He watched the look on the little boys face go from happy to angry was rather amusing to him, so he started laughing, earning more strange looks from the people making their way to the first meal of the day. Draco didn't pay any attention to them, though, and just kept walking to the Infirmary.

-

Meanwhile, Ginny and Hermione kept up their walk to the Great Hall for breakfast. Some were whispering as they passed, arms linked and laughing about something, and some obviously hadn't heard about the rumours going through Gryffindor now, so they had no reaction to the two laughing girls.

When they reached the Hall, Hermione took a deep breath, looked at Ginny and nodded, and they both put smiles on their faces and pushed the great double doors open.

They walked down the aisles of seats and tables to Gryffindor table and sat beside Harry and Ron, putting food on their plates and starting to eat. Hermione wasn't as hungry now, after the birth, but she was still rather hungry at the moment.

Just as she was taking a sip from her drink, Seamus Finnegan spoke up.

'Ah, Hermione, I was just wondering, were you pregnant?' He blurted. Hermione choked on her pumpkin juice and nearly spat it out, trying to get her throat to take in air again.

'What?' She asked, still trying to breathe properly. Seamus' cheeks increasingly hotter as he repeated what he had just said.

'No! Where on Earth did you get an idea like that?' Hermione cried, still coughing and spluttering. By this time, half of Gryffindor was listening, and the other half was analysing what Lavender and Parviti had said last night and this morning, compared to what Hermione was saying now, and how she was acting.

Just at that moment, Draco opened the doors to the Great Hall with a flourish and walked straight up to Dumbledore. Hermione noticed and got up off her seat also, meeting Draco in the middle and they made their way to Dumbledore together.

The elderly Headmaster watched as his students walked towards him with a slightly confused frown on his face. Why would they want to talk to him?

Draco spoke first.

'Professor, we would like you to announce to the school the reason for us carrying a child around with us. Some of the students seem to be getting the wrong idea.' He said firmly. Dumbledore nodded in understanding at once and ushered them away to their seats, before standing and calling for silence. Draco and Hermione parted their separate ways with a small smile and a hand squeeze, and sat as the hall quietened.

'Students, I would like to inform you on some happenings within the school. A couple of nights ago, a small baby were left on our doorstep. I took him in and left to the charge Miss Hermione Granger and Mr Malfoy. To take care of this child during the night without the hassle of different dormitories, they have been allowed the freedom to share a room for the child's sake, and it will be taken to the Infirmary in the mornings, and brought back to their shared common room at night. No, the rumours about Miss Granger being pregnant are not true, and if I hear them repeated again, you will have a detention with Mr Filch every night for a week. I'm sure he would enjoy that, even if you don't. So please, do not spread such things. Thank you.' He finished. The students went back to muttering over breakfast.

Lavender and Parviti came up to Hermione and apologised for starting the rumours, and hoped that that was enough for her. Hermione smiled, nodded and accepted their apology.

Draco was better off. None of Slytherin wanted to ask him about it. They all knew they wouldn't get an answer anyway. Blaise, Pansy and Sierra told him that they had already quashed any rumours through threats, typical Slytherins, and that had stopped it spreading through them. Draco thanked them, but hoped that they hadn't actually had to hurt anyone.

The rest of the day was spent fending off questions about the little boy and trying to get some work done, they were seriously getting annoyed.

By the end of the day, they had Scorpius back in their room and were tucking him back into his cot, making him sleep and getting changed to go get in bed themselves.

Once in bed, Draco pulled Hermione back against him, spooning her and wrapped his arms tight around her waist, breathing in the scent of her hair.

'Hmmmm. I love you.' He muttered. Hermione smiled and turned over in his arms, so she was facing him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned her forehead against his.

'I love you too.' She murmured, kissing him lightly on the lips. Draco responded with much more vigour than she was expecting, so she pulled back suddenly. He looked at her disappointingly.

'What was that for?' He asked. Hermione smiled sheepishly.

'Sorry, I just wasn't expecting it.' She said. Draco just smiled and kissed her hard again, this time with her responding.

Hermione quickly found her shirt being tugged over her head and hands making their way down her shorts. She moaned.

'Don't tease me.' She muttered. Draco snorted.

'Not likely.' He muttered, claiming her lips again. Hermione pulled away for a second time and Draco groaned.

'What now?' He almost growled. Hermione laughed softly.

'Wait a second.' She said, muttering a charm over her lower stomach with her wand, before putting it back on the bedside table. She smiled.

'I'm not quite ready for another child yet.' She said. Draco rolled his eyes and continued the wandering of his hands, as did Hermione, before getting down to business, and not wasting much time about it.

-

The next month went by in much the same way, and it was now mid April. Everybody had gotten used to having Hermione and Draco walking around the school with Scorpius and the Weasleys now knew the truth about what had happened. Molly had sent a long congratulations letter, hoping that she would get to see the little boy soon and wishing them well in school with him around.

Taking Scorpius up to the Infirmary in the morning and then bringing him back just before they left for bed was now part of their usual routine, and they were getting more and more used to having very little sleep at night and then going to classes during the day. Contrary to what they and Madam Pomfrey had thought, Scorpius was getting better and better at waking up at more normal times of the morning and demanding food and to have his diaper changed. For this, the two students were increasingly grateful. Draco kept joking that he took too much after Hermione, simply because he wasn't being a trouble maker.

Madam Pomfrey still needed to bring Hermione out of some classes to feed the boy, and then would be shipped back to her classes after saying a quick goodbye to him.

Draco and Hermione would have their separate turns in the morning and evening, depending on whether or not Draco had gained himself a detention, and then they would swap the next day.

'Draco?' Hermione mumbled one morning, listening as Scorpius started whining. It was her turn to sleep in.

'What?' He muttered back, wrapping his arm tighter around her naked torso. Let's just say their sexual activities increased with their own rooms.

'It's your turn to get Scorpius up.' She mumbled. Draco groaned and turned over, muttering something about the kid being annoying and getting him up way too early in the morning. Hermione chuckled sleepily and drifted back into unconsciousness.

Draco went over to the crib and picked up his whimpering son, sighing and frowning down at his cute little pouty face. Draco couldn't stay annoyed at him when he pulled that face. He hushed the little baby boy in his arms by bouncing him around, while trying to figure out what the problem was. He didn't stink, and he'd been fed only an hour ago. Didn't Madam Pomfrey say he should be fed every two hours? Yes, that was right, so he couldn't be hungry. Maybe it was just a bad dream? Draco decided on the affirmative and pulled a pair of boxer shorts on before bringing little Scorp over to his bed with Hermione and laying the little boy in between himself and his fiancé, and wrapping his arm around both of them. Hermione turned over and snuggled closer to both of her boys subconsciously, before settling again and falling even deeper into her sleep.

Draco's last conscious thought for the rest of that night was that he might not be able to wake Hermione up in the morning. _Luckily it's a Saturday._

-

Later that morning, at a very normal time to be out of bed this time, the little family was awoken by people out the front of their portrait hole. Draco groaned and rolled over, trying to ignore the noise. Hermione mumbled something also and snuggled further down into the covers. The rapping on the door got louder and soon they could ignore it no longer, because Scorpius was awoken by the loud noises.

With Hermione completely naked, Draco got up and walked over to the portrait hole, opening it slightly.

'Who is it?' He asked, sleep ridden throughout his voice.

'Who do you think it is git?' He heard Sierra's voice float through the crack in the door. Groaning even more, he opened the door fully and let them in, closing the door behind him.

'Wait a sec, I'll go get Hermione.' He said, walking back up the stairs and leaving them to sit down on the couches.

Draco walked into the bedroom, took Scorpius into his arms and kneeled down by the bed. He touched Hermione's shoulder and shook it lightly.

'Love, come on, we have visitors.' He murmured to her. Hermione just grumbled and rolled over. Draco sighed; a slight smile played on his lips and looked down at his son.

'Do you want to have a go?' He asked the little boy. Scorpius just gurgled and waved his arms and fingers in Draco's face. Draco laughed and caught the little boys' hands in his.

'What are you going to do now, hey? I've got your hands.' Draco teased. Scorpius laughed as Draco rubbed his nose against the smaller boys'. They heard Hermione groan again and turn over to face them, her eyes opening slightly. Draco smiled at her as she smiled lightly at her son and reached down to gently stroke his face. Scorpius grabbed onto her fingers and started playing with them as Hermione started waking up more.

'Good morning, love.' Draco muttered, leaning forward and kissing her lightly on the lips. Hermione directed her smile and eyes towards him for a moment before looking back at her son.

'Good morning to you, too. Now what was that you said about visitors?' She asked in a whisper.

'Sierra decided to bang on our door early this morning. I tried ignoring it, but soon this little man woke up,' Draco explained, bouncing the little boy up and down and grinning at him. 'So I couldn't really ignore it any longer.' Hermione nodded and yawned, pulling her fingers out of Scorpius' grasp and getting up. The little boy didn't seem to like this though, so he nearly started crying, but luckily Draco saw his eyes starting to tear up and his bottom lip wobbling and quickly gave him his fingers to play with.

Hermione went to the bathroom and looked at her face in the mirror before walking out again and getting dressed into whatever she could find.

'Who else was with her?' She asked as she put on her pants. Draco didn't look up as he answered her.

'The whole troop.' He replied. Hermione groaned.

'What do they want this early in the morning?' She grumbled. Draco chuckled.

'Love, it's 10. It isn't that early.' He told her. Hermione rolled her eyes.

'Well, I was enjoying my sleep.' She muttered. Draco smiled up at her.

'Don't worry; we'll get them back tomorrow.' He promised. Hermione grinned and laughed, pulling her shirt over her head.

'Well, put a shirt on you, I'll take Scorp and we'll meet you down there.' She said, smiling at him. Draco nodded and pulled hr into a breath taking kiss, leaving her gasping, and smirked at her, turning and going to his closet.

Hermione gave him glare behind his back before turning to the door and walking down to see the others, who were all crowded on the couches.

'What are you lot doing here?' She asked as she walked down the stairs. They all turned to face her and smiled.

'Well, we didn't have anything better to do, and you guys weren't up yet, so we decided to come see you.' Ron explained, the others nodding in agreement. Hermione rolled her eyes.

'Well, no thanks to you, but I was having quite a peaceful sleep until you lot came.' She replied. A couple of them laughed.

'Well, it was about time you got up.' Ginny retorted as Hermione hit the bottom of the stairs and came over to sit with them.

'You could have given us some warning.' She scolded. Ginny just rolled her eyes.

'None of us wanted to see you two lying naked in your bed, thank you very much.' She replied. They turned as they heard Draco laugh from the top of the stairs.

'And how did you know we were doing that, Ginny?' He asked as he jumped to the bottom step and picked up Hermione from her chair before sitting down himself and plonking her on his lap, jostling the little boy sitting on her knees. Hermione scowled at him, but he just smirked back and kissed her quickly, effectively wiping the scowl off her face.

'Would you two stop, and I know that because you weren't at breakfast this morning. That's a dead give away.' She explained. Draco just rolled his eyes and wrapped his securely around Hermione, resting his head in between her shoulder blades.

Just then, a rather disturbing thought entered Hermione's mind.

'We still haven't told my parents anything, about the pregnancy, the engagement, or the baby. How are we going to tell them; and when?' She asked with worry evident in her voice. Draco's eyes went momentarily before he slapped himself in the forehead.

'Shit! We forgot to tell them! What are they going to say when we go back and you have child in your arms and an engagement ring on your finger! Shit, crap!' He cried, continuous hitting himself in the forehead.

Hermione grabbed his hand and pulled it away from his face.

'Stop swearing in front of our child, and hitting yourself isn't going to solve anything, that will just give you a headache and I don't need to look after you as well as the baby. Now, what are we going to do?' She asked, turning back to everyone else in the room with a pleading look on her face.

It took them a few seconds, but Harry suddenly started and piped up.

'Well, what about Draco writes a letter to them now, asking to marry Hermione? If they say no, well, just say explain that it won't be happening immediately, but later on in life, but you just need to pronounce this last statement of affection for her. As for Scorp, show them the letter your mother sent you. That should make them understand.' He explained.

Everyone mulled over the words for a second, thinking that it could possibly work.

'I like it, but it still leaves too many loop holes for me to be killed in.' Draco grumbled. Everyone in the room laughed at him and Scorpius clapped his hands together with a bright, happy smile on his face, his eyes shining with happiness and childish exuberance. He looked around as everyone smiled at him and chuckled.

'He really is very cute Hermione. He'll grow to look exactly like Draco; I can see it now; except he'll have your eyes.' Sierra said, smiling down at her little nephew. 'Can I hold him?' She asked. Hermione smiled and nodded at her, holding Scorpius out for Sierra to take.

'Now, back to them main problem, I really don't want to die right at this moment in time, so what are we going to do?' Draco asked the room at large.

'I think Harry's story has some merit, but I think that we should tell them the whole pregnancy part face-to-face. It'll be easier and more respectful to my parents. I mean, we told Narcissa to her face.' She appealed. They nodded and murmured in ascent.

'I think so too, but can I wait outside during all of this and only come in when I know something isn't going to be thrown at my head?' Draco asked. Hermione rolled her eyes as everyone else laughed.

'No one is going to hurt you Draco. Now, we'll just have to wait until the end of next month, when we go home. Draco, tell your mother that you're coming home to stay with me for a little while, explain the situation to her, she should be fine with it, and then, if things go badly, we can stay at your mothers' house. I'm sure she'd love to have Scorpius around.' Hermione explained. Draco nodded in the affirmative.

'Alright sounds like a plan. What about the engagement?' He asked.

'Keep to Harry's plan with that. Ask first, it won't seem too weird. I've explained to them already that the coming of age thing is a year earlier for witches and wizards.' Hermione answered.

'Good. That should make things easier. Come on, let's get out of here, I'm starving and we need to drop Scorpius down at the Infirmary to let Madam Pomfrey take care of him while we have the day to ourselves.' Draco sighed, leaning back against the couch, pulling Hermione with him before putting his hands behind his head.

'Alright, let's get going then.' Blaise spoke up and they left the couple's common room to go have a relaxing day outside.

**A/N: Hey! And now comes the part where I acknowledge all of those people who are absolutely fabulous and alert or review or favourite me! I love you all!**

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**Thank all of you for your great support! There shouldn't be more many more chapters left on this story, I can't thnk of anything completely amazing to put in for the next month. If you can, please tell me, I'm having a tough time for ideas here. And also, if you can think of a name for the sequel, I would love to hear it. Thank you so much! -Air hugs to all!- See you next time!**

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	32. Chapter Thirty Two

**A/N: Hey! I'm finally done! As cliche as this sounds, I'm going to miss this story. But have no fear! The sequel is near! It is called "A Malfoy's Curse: Their Final Battle." It is the last one I will right with these characters in this plot. I think it will last quite a few chapters though. I want to thank all of you for your continued support, and to the ones that have been with me since the beggining. I love you all! Thank you so much!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or anything that you recognise. It all belongs to J.K. Rowling. **

**Chapter 32**

Over the next few days, studying was in order. Draco and Hermione spent most of their time in the library when they were out of classes with their friends, and often had to go down to the Kitchens to go get food because they'd missed out on dinner.

It was now a Thursday night and Hermione found Draco sitting at the desk in their common room and writing on a piece of parchment, frowning. She smiled at the sight of him, and carried Scorpius with her over to where he sat.

'What are you doing, love?' She asked, looking over his shoulder. Draco flashed a look up at her and blowed on the paper before handing it up to her. Hermione took the parchment from him and began to read . . .

_Dear Mr. and Mrs. Granger,_

_I am writing to ask you both something that is incredibly important to me. I would like your blessing to marry your daughter, Hermione. _

_I am sorry to throw this upon you, but it is my greatest wish. She is my life. I can not live without her. I wish to live the rest of my life with her by my side. I wish to start a family with her. _

_I know not many men ask for blessings in this day and age, but I grew up in a very traditional family. So, I thought it was best if I asked you first. I do not plan on marrying Hermione immediately, so you can take a deep breath. _

_I would also like to inform you that my father has been placed in Azkaban (the Wizarding Prison) in one of their most secure cells under my instructions. He will no longer be around to hurt her. I'm sure that will give you some piece of mind. _

_Also, my mother was hysterically happy when she found that I had found someone that loves me as much as I love them. She has already met up with Hermione, and adores her completely. She already considers her a daughter without her officially being my wife. _

_Once again I would just like to tell you that Hermione is the only one for me, I can see that, and I will not hurt her in anyway. I would appreciate your blessing greatly. But if you will not grant me the blessing, and would rather that I stayed away from her, because of all that happened during that summer, then I will, of course, try to respect your wishes until school gets out and I can go my separate way from her. _

_Thank you for reading this and not throwing it straight into the fire,_

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Draco Malfoy._

Hermione felt tears come to her eyes as she read over Draco's letter to her parents. She looked down into his concerned face as a tear trickled down her cheek.

'You really don't give them enough credit you know.' She muttered, handing the letter back to him. Draco smiled.

'Well, I know if something like that happened to my daughter, I probably wouldn't want the son of a tyrant anywhere near her. I gave them an option. I just hope they don't resort to it.' He replied with a sigh. Hermione smiled at him lightly and kissed his forehead, holding his neck with one hand, and Scorpius with the other.

'I'll be back late tonight. I have to see Ginny about something, alright?' She said. Draco nodded and kissed her sweetly, before Hermione turned around and left the room, Scorpius bouncing and gurgling in her arms, leaving Draco to read over his letter again, wishing there was more he could tell them to convince them of his love for Hermione.

When Hermione got to the Gryffindor Common Room and entered, she found Ginny, Harry, Ron and Seamus and Dean sitting on the couches by the fireplace, laughing and smiling. Hermione herself smiled at her friends wistfully, wishing she was as carefree at the moment, but loving everything that had happened to her anyway. Plus, if she hadn't had Draco, then she wouldn't have Scorpius, and she couldn't see her life without either her son or fiancé in it now.

That was when Harry turned around and saw her standing there, with that small smile on her face. Harry waved and called to her.

'Come on, Hermione! This wouldn't be any fun without you!' He cried, signalling for her to join them on the couches. Seamus and Dean looked a bit uncomfortable. They still felt horrible for believing Lavender and Parviti over Hermione. Hermione had forgiven them, but they still avoided Draco like the plague.

'Hey guys, what's up?' She asked, sitting next to Ron on the couch and bouncing her son on her lap.

'Nothing too amazing, just discussing Dad.' Harry answered, his eyes gleaming at the thought of his father. Hermione smiled at him.

'What has he done now?' She asked, wondering what type of mischief James and Sirius were making, and where.

'Oh nothing. Just how he found me and that sort of stuff. I know it was ages ago that he came back, but it still seems like it was yesterday, you know.' He explained, staring off into the distance a bit. Hermione nodded and looked around.

'Have you heard anything from him since the ball?' She inquired, playing with Scorpius' feet as he lay on his back facing her. Harry watched as the two played together and smiled lovingly at them.

'Nah, not yet. I haven't had the chance to write to him myself with exam revision. I guess he'll understand though, won't he?' He asked. Ginny rolled her eyes at him.

'Of course he'll understand, Harry. He knows what it's like to go through Hogwarts exams, remember?' She reminded him. Harry nodded thoughtfully.

'So, how's everything with you and Draco?' Ron asked, successfully changing the subject and annoying Hermione at the same time. Especially when he nudged her and winked.

'Brilliantly, superbly actually. Everything's going just as normal.' She answered confidently. Ron smirked.

'So there haven't been any problems because the baby's around?' He asked. It was now Hermione's turn to roll her eyes.

'No, Ron. There haven't been any _problems_.' She emphasised. Ron frowned and Hermione smiled cheekily. 'Having a room to ourselves helps.' She added. Ginny and Harry laughed, Seamus and Dean blocked there ears and Ron stuck his tongue out at her.

'So mature, Ron.' Hermione muttered.

'I know.' He answered.

'So what do you want to do when you get out of school, Hermione?' Harry asked, changing the subject.

'I want to be a healer at St. Mungo's when this is all over.' Hermione answered. 'What about you?'

'I want to lead a quiet life. I hardly need a job with the fortune that dad and I have. I haven't really talked about it with Sierra yet, but I'm sure it will be fine. I hope. What about you Ron?' Harry asked.

'I want to be an Auror. They get cool robes and get to do an awesome job. I can't wait to get out of school.' Ron said enthusiastically.

'Well, I want to work with Fred and George in their joke shop. It would be the best job. It has the good money, you get to make jokes and stuff, and I get to work with my crazy brothers. It will be the greatest.' Ginny answered the unspoken question.

'Are you sure that's what you want to do for the rest of your life?' Hermione asked. Ginny nodded.

'For the foreseeable future, anyway.' She said. Hermione nodded and smiled at her.

'I hope you have fun with that then.' She said. Ginny nodded and laughed.

'I hope I do.' She answered. 'What about you two?' Ginny directed at Seamus and Dean. 'Haven't heard much from you two yet.'

'Well, I don't really know what I want to do yet. With all the possibilities, it's hard to decide.' Seamus answered, Dean nodding along beside him.

'Well, what do you like doing?' Harry asked.

'Sport stuff, and charms. Charms class is fun.' Seamus explained. Dean grimaced.

'I like Transfiguration more.' He countered. Seamus shrugged.

'I'm not a huge fan of McGonagall. She's too strict for my liking. Flitwick is awesome. He let's you do nearly anything in his class.' Seamus laughed. Hermione rolled her eyes.

'You're supposed to do work class, Seamus; not muck around.' She chastised. It was now Seamus' turn to roll his eyes.

'Not everyone is like you, Hermione. Some of us just need a break from learning sometimes. And plus, I do the work, I master the charm, I just like talking to my friends as I do it.' He argued. Hermione still scowled at him.

'I take breaks too, Seamus. I'm not as bad as you think I am. In fact I hardly get to study at all with Scorpius being as nocturnal as he is. Bad sleep means bad concentration. Sometimes it's just easier to give up all together.' She responded. She held Scorpius close to her as he slept quietly in her arms, sometimes making small baby noises. She smiled at him.

'I better be going. I have to put this one to sleep before he wakes up and starts screaming.' She joked. Harry smiled up at her and held out his arms to hold him once before she left.

'Fine, Harry.' She relented, passing the slumbering boy into his arms.

'He's so cute.' Harry whispered, touching his nose softly, making him scrunch his nose in his sleep. Harry laughed softly and did it again. Hermione hit hi on the back of the head.

'Don't do that, you'll wake him up and I'll get no sleep tonight at all!' She scolded softly. Harry grinned sheepishly and handed him back to her.

'There you go, get him to bed before he wakes the entirety of the school that's already asleep. Night Hermione.' He said. Hermione smiled and waved at everyone, before leaving the room and making her way back to her shared common room with Draco.

'Hey love.' She called as she entered, Scorpius stirring slightly. Draco came in from the bedroom and walked up to her smiling.

'Hey, have a good time with the Gryffindors?' He asked. Hermione smiled.

'Yes, but Seamus was being typical Seamus, and Scorpius was sleeping against me, so I thought it would be a good idea to come back now.' She answered, leaning against his chest as Draco wrapped his arms around her and his son, and rested his chin on the top of her head.

'How about you put Scorpius in his crib and join me in bed, huh?' He suggested. Hermione nodded her consent and slipped out from his arms.

'I'll be right with you. You go climb in.' She said, making her way to their room and putting Scorpius down before starting to get changed. Draco smiled and came up behind her.

'You know, we could sleep on the couch tonight so we don't wake up Scorpius.' He whispered in her ear. Hermione moaned, and leaned her head back against him.

'You know, sometimes your offers are too tempting to refuse.' She whispered back. Draco smirked and kissed her firmly on the lips, turning her round to face him. Hermione moaned against his lips again softly, before Draco picked her up and started walking her out of the room.

Let's just say that the couch was never the same again. And visitors gave it a wide berth when the couple smiled at each other cheekily whenever a person or people sat on it.

-

The exams crept up on them quicker than they had expected, and soon it was the night before and everyone was cramming. People could be seen from all over the school, reading books as the walked, sitting in the little niches and crannies in the walls, trying to memorise everything they needed to. And the library was always busy during the exam time of the year, but, luckily for the Golden Trio and their partners and friends, they were able to dredge up a table and a few extra chairs.

There was a stack of books in the middle of the table, and every once in a while, someone would put a book back and grab another, hoping to have the right information in the one they just picked up. Sometimes, there were sighs of frustration, sometimes there were sighs of relief, and there were shared groans, moans and pounding of heads against tables and books. All said actions earned them glares and scowls from Madam Pince, the Librarian.

'I can't find anything I might need in here.' She complained, blowing out a frustrated breath. Hermione gave her a reassuring smile.

'Try looking through your actual text book, Gin. That might give you the answers you need.' She suggested. Ginny frowned.

'That would be a good idea.' She resolved. Ginny bent down and retrieved her text book from her bag and opened that on the table, tossing the other book back into the pile.

Draco slammed his book shut.

'That's it. I'm done. I'm going to get my son, and I'm going to bed. I think Madam Pomfrey has had enough of him for the day. Coming Hermione?' He asked. Hermione rubbed her eyes and nodded.

'I've had enough of studying too. I'll see you guys in the morning.' She muttered. They all nodded at her and Draco tiredly, signalling their goodbye.

The couple walked up to the Hospital Wing and collected their son, before taking him back to their room and falling into an exhausted sleep.

-

The next morning, people still carried books around, reading over them quickly before their exams start. It was a Monday, and the exams would last all week. First was the group's written Charms exam, followed by the practical exam before break, and then the Arithmancy exam before lunch for Hermione, with Divination for the boys.

At lunch, everyone was still trying to cram information into their heads. The groups' next exams were Potions, written and then the practical.

'What a way to finish the day. A written potions exam, followed by a practical one.' Ron grumbled as they walked out of the dungeon classroom.

'It wasn't so bad actually. It could have been much worse.' Hermione reasoned. Rom rolled his eyes at her.

'Speak for yourself.' He retorted. Hermione made a face at him and walked closer to Draco, who threw a lazy arm around her waist.

'I have to tell you something too.' He muttered into her ear. Hermione turned to face him.

'What's wrong?' She asked worriedly. Draco shook his head imperceptibly.

'I'll talk you about it tonight when there aren't so many ears.' He murmured leaning down so she would be able to hear him. Hermione nodded and they continued on their way. The Gryffindors went to their common room; the Slytherins to theirs and Hermione and Draco took Scorpius from Madam Pomfrey and headed to their room before dinner.

'What was it you wanted to talk about Draco?' Hermione called from the bedroom as she put Scorpius in to sleep after feeding him.

Draco wandered into the room behind her and leaned on the doorway.

'I still haven't heard back from your parents yet.' He told her softly, getting straight to the point. After Hermione had put down her son, she turned to Draco abruptly.

'Are you sure? You've heard nothing from them?' She asked again, just to be clear.

'Absolutely nothing.' He replied, a sorrowful and doubtful look on his face. Hermione took a deep breath.

'Well, let's think this through. You actually sent the letter, didn't you?' She inquired. Draco nodded.

'Yes, I did. I used Cardon to send it, and I remember watching him fly off into the distance. He came back a couple of days later, carrying no other note, nothing. I waited almost a month before telling you, hoping that I wouldn't scare you.' He finished. Hermione took another deep breath.

'Well, what did you tell Cardon to do? Did you tell him to wait for a reply?' She asked. She watched Draco as he drifted into his thoughts, trying to remember what he had said to the bird almost a month ago now. That was when he remembered what he hadn't done.

'I forgot to tell the stupid owl to wait for a reply!' He responded, smacking himself on the head. Hermione smiled fondly at him and enclosed him in a hug.

'Silly boy. What will I ever do with you? Your owl dropped the letter and lent, leaving my parents0no means of wriuing back. I'll write to them explaining what happened and I'll tell them to give tjeir reply to the school owl I'll use and then you will get their reply, alright?' She suggested. Draco nodded and rested his head against hers.

'This is going to be a long week.' He muttered, and Hermione giggled.

-

The next day, Tuesday, the group headed down to breakfast to get6something to eat before their Transfiguration written and practical exams started.

As the filed into the exam room, and found their seat, they saw Professor McGonagall standing at the head of the hall. She looked down on them with her usual stern glance and watched them all as they took their seats in silence.

The exam started and finished in silence and without a hitch. The students were then asked to wait outside while the staff rearranged the room for the practical examination. It only took a short time, and then they were called in five at a time and were assigned to a staff member. The students went to their members of staff and were asked to perform some more simple transfiguration spells first, before the gradually got harder.

Hermione was assigned to Professor Flitwick, and did all of her spells flawlessly. The tiny professor even gave her a round of applause, to which Hermione blushed and thanked him.

Draco was stuck with Professor Snape, and he tried to do as well as possible. He passed with flying colours though, performing everything to perfection.

In fact, most students did incredibly well in their exam. There were only a couple of incidents where a student had to be taken to the Hospital Wing to be tended too, and the teachers all counted their lucky stars that they didn't have to join them to be treated by Madam Pomfrey.

'That went reasonably well.' Sierra commented as they made their way to lunch after dropping off their belongings, and grabbing what they needed for their next exam.

'I think so too.' Ron agreed, pulling Pansy closer to him.

'You know what?' Ginny asked. 'I think us girls need to have a Girls' Night In at Hermione and Draco's room before the end of the year. I mean, we aren't going to see each other during the holidays, well, we won't see Pansy during the holidays, so, why don't we have a girls night?'

Hermione thought about it.

'Only if Draco agrees to leave the room and sleep somewhere else for the night. And he takes Scorpius with him.' She added, looking towards Draco. Said boy rolled his eyes.

'Fine. You girls can have the room for the night. Just tell me when and I'll pack up my stuff and we boys can stay in the Room of Requirement for the night. Happy?' He answered. Hermione and the girls nodded with huge smiles on their faces.

'Thank you, baby.' Hermione said, quickly giving him a peck on the lips and grinning widely. Draco smiled at her and hugged her to him.

'You owe me.' He whispered to her. Hermione raised an eyebrow to him.

'And when don't I pay you back?' She asked. Draco nodded in agreement, and smiled at her.

'You do always pay me back somehow.' He agreed. He then got serious.

'Did you send that letter and Cardon back to your parents?' He asked nervously. Hermione smiled at him.

'Yes, I did. You should get a reply within a couple of days.' She assured. Draco paled as he thought about what Hermione's parents were going to say.

'Don't worry, love. I'm sure they'll think it sweet that you asked them first. Well, my mum will anyway. I'm not too sure what Dad will say.' She conceded. Draco shot her a glare.

'That doesn't help. I'm more scared of your Dad than I am of your Mum.' He responded. Hermione giggled.

'Don't be. He has a heart of gold. He'll probably like how traditional you are.' Hermione reassured, but it still didn't help Draco's nerves.

After lunch was more exams, before they all came traipsing back in for dinner, exams over, except for the Astronomy exam that night at midnight. They all ate in silence, energy and mental capacity drained after having to think and recall information all day.

At midnight, they all headed up to the Astronomy Tower to complete their final exam. That lasted until two in the morning, and then they made their way up to their beds (Draco and Hermione taking a detour to the Hospital Wing to pick up Scorpius) and fell asleep almost immediately.

-

The next morning, Wednesday, everyone was at breakfast. Hermione looked up and watched the birds as the owl post swooped in. She dropped her spoon as she saw Cardon, Draco's owl, glide down to land in front of him.

She watched as Draco took the letter with shaky fingers, and tried to read Sierra's lips as she read the letter over his shoulder. She gave up after a couple of minutes, realising that her attempt at lip reading was fruitless. She waited with baited breath, until she saw Draco get up, and nod towards her. She got up and followed him outside and up to their room numbly, not sure what to think. Horrible thoughts going through her head forced her to fight back tears, not wanting to seem negative in front of Draco, and tried to force the thoughts to the back of her mind.

Draco opened the door to their rooms, allowing her to walk to the fire place and gives her the letter gently.

Hermione took it with soft movements. She opened it.

_Dear Draco,_

_Of course we give you our blessing to marry Hermione! Dearest, you can't compare yourself to your father all your life. You are not your father. As you remember, we have met both of you, and we wouldn't have guessed that you two were related if you didn't look incredibly alike. We couldn't have chosen anyone better for our daughter than you. As far as we are concerned, you are already part of the family. _

_We realise that you do not want to do anything with Hermione immediately, and for that we are happy. Both of you are too young to be having too much interaction anyway. _

_Draco, we give you our hearty consent and our biggest blessing. Granted, I am happier about this than Hermione's father, but he even told me that he couldn't have chosen better for our little girl. _

_It does make us happy that your father is out of the picture and in jail. It gives us a great amount of comfort, and thank you for telling us. _

_Love,_

_Mr. and Mrs. Granger_

Hermione looked up at him with curiosity in her eyes.

'This is good news. Why are you so upset?' She asked. Draco stopped walking and turned to face her. He had started some time during when Hermione was reading the letter.

'I feel like I'm betraying their trust. They said that they glad that I wasn't going to do anything with you yet, and look at us! We have a son, and we're engaged!' Draco stopped at the look of anguish on her face. He came forward and took her hands in his, kneeling before her. 'My love, trust me. I wouldn't trade you and Scorpius in for the world. I just don't think that they'll quite appreciate a teenaged mother; especially when it went straight against their wishes.' He reasoned. Hermione nodded and looked down at their hands.

'You know, I think my mother will be glad all the same. She always told me that she couldn't wait to be a grandmother. Dad is a different thing entirely, but he liked you, remember? He shouldn't be too bad. You don't have to feel bad.' She tried. Draco nodded, but still didn't think the guilt would ever leave him.

-

It was soon the weekend before the last weekend of term, and the girls decided to make their "Girls' Night In" on that weekend. Hermione informed Draco and he evacuated the room as Ginny and Hermione set it up for that night.

Draco came up behind Hermione as she was spreading a clean blanket over the top of their mattress, and took her into his arms. He kissed her neck sweetly, and turned her around so she was facing him. Hermione smiled brightly and warmly at him.

'What?' She asked. Draco smiled back and said nothing, just snuggling his face into her hair. Ginny noticed and made the excuse of checking on Scorpius to give them some space.

'I love you.' Draco mumbled, and Hermione could feel his breath tickling the soft hairs on her ears, making her giggle.

'I love you too.' She answered in between laughs. Draco rolled his eyes and pulled back.

'I'm going to miss you tonight.' He muttered, leaning his forehead against hers.

'I'll miss you too.' She replied, smiling slightly, breathing in his scent and closing her eyes. Draco leaned forwards and kissed her lips softly. Hermione leaned in and pressed more firmly against him, making him moan. Hermione smirked and pulled away. Draco made a noise of protest.

'Now you can't do that.' He complained. Hermione laughed.

'Yes I can! Now go get your son and go! The girls will be here soon. Shoo!' She ordered.

'As long as we finish what you started tomorrow night!' He called as he disappeared in to Scorpius room. Hermione sighed with a smile on her face.

'Of course! Now go!' She yelled. Draco appeared back into the room carrying his son and came up to Hermione again.

'Say goodbye to mummy, Scorp. She's kicking us boys out for the night so her and her girl friends have chat and gossip and do girly stuff. She doesn't love us anymore.' Draco whispered, making Scorpius wave to Hermione, making her laugh. Hermione hit his arm.

'Out you!' She ordered again. Draco pouted at her and hit her bum on the way out. Hermione turned on him with a surprised face.

'See ya sexy!' Draco called as he disappeared out the door. Hermione tried to pick up her jaw at his mischief, and jumped as she heard Ginny laugh in the background.

'He has some balls to be doing that.' Ginny said, coming up to Hermione. 'But, we do have to be getting ready for the more important people who are coming.' She subtly hinted, gesturing for Hermione to get changed.

'I'm going!' She cried, running into her bedroom and getting quickly changed before running outside and continuing to set up.

Minutes later, Sierra and Pansy knocked on her door. Hermione and Ginny ran to the door and opened it for them, inviting them in enthusiastically.

'I'll tell you what; we got some strange looks coming here. Everyone was like, "Why are those losers wearing pyjamas?"' Sierra said, putting on a high pitched, squeaky voice that sounded something like Lavender and Parviti's. Hermione, Ginny and Pansy laughed and settled onto the mattress and pillows on the floor.

'We've been in here for the past 30 minutes setting this area up so we could sleep tonight, or just be comfortable.' Ginny explained.

'So, how are your lives going?' Hermione asked, settling back onto the pillows and taking a Bertie Botts' Every Flavour Bean out of the bowl near her and popped it into her mouth.

'Nothing much really. I haven't been able to see much of Ron lately because of classes and quidditch practice and such. We really just need to have a night together without having to be separated soon afterwards.' Pansy said wistfully. Sierra rolled her eyes.

'It's called the holidays. Invite him over to your place, or mention that you would like to see the Burrow. With his parents at a different place over the hols, you two should have some fun.' Sierra replied suggestively, wagging her eyebrows at the other Slytherin, who hit her with a pillow while Hermione and Ginny laughed at the pair.

'Speaking of "having fun", how are you and Draco in the other room, Hermione?' Ginny asked, a smirk all over her face, and pointing to Hermione and Draco's bedroom. Hermione glowered at her.

'Do you really want to know that?' She asked, pulling a face. Sierra, Pansy and Ginny all grinned and nodded, leaning forwards. Hermione rolled her eyes. She told them as much as she could without her face going too red. She watched them as they all squealed and giggled, fidgeting around like worms on top of a compost heap.

'Right, I've finished. Sierra, I think it's your turn.' Hermione finished, looking towards the blonde girl and piercing her with her gaze. Sierra shot her a look and straightened up.

'Unlike our Hermione here, I'm not scared to tell everyone about mine and Harry's rendezvous'.' She answered proudly. Hermione rolled her eyes and hit her with a pillow. Sierra laughed and dodged her. She spilled her guts about what her and Harry had been up to alone in a room, and watched as the three girls laughed themselves silly and turned bright red as she reiterated everything without withholding anything.

Sierra's victim was Ginny, and they all listened again as Ginny told her story, and then Pansy telling them hers. They ended up all lying on their backs on the floor and laughing every once in a while.

'You know what we need?' Sierra asked, as they stared up at the ceiling.

'What?' Hermione responded. Sierra grinned.

'More chocolate! Tonight we can just eat all that fatty stuff, and then work it off in the morning with a run around the lake or something.' She suggested. The three other girls nodded and Hermione got up, quickly making her way into the kitchenette that was in hers' and Draco's chambers.

She went straight to the cupboard and saw that there was a fresh bag of about four blocks of chocolate. Hermione grinned and brought the entire bag out to where the girls were laying about, talking.

'Here's the chocolate!' She said, dumping the bag in the middle of them, and they all got up and opened a block each.

'What type of chocolate is it?' Pansy asked.

'I think it's just normal dairy milk.' Hermione answered. 'There doesn't seem to be a label on it.' The girls shrugged and ate the chocolate happily.

Ginny made a noise that gained all of their attention.

'Did you hear about Lavender and Seamus?' She asked once her mouth was mostly devoid of chocolate. The other three sat up, intrigued by this news.

'What about them?' Sierra asked.

'Harry told me this morning that he saw someone sneak into the boys' dorms last night. In the morning, when he woke up, he saw clothes lying around Seamus' bed, and when he looked, he saw Seamus and Lavender lying together in the sheets, and from what it looked like, naked.' Ginny explained. The girls gasped and came in closer.

'You can't be serious! I thought that they weren't going to try again after their escapade in fourth year!' Hermione exclaimed. Ginny shook her head.

'Well, apparently not. I've never known Harry to lie about something like this.' She reasoned. The girls nodded, dumbfounded.

'Daphne and Theo Nott have also been seen around the place in the little niches and crannies around the school.' Sierra announced.

'Really? I thought that was just a rumour?' Pansy asked. Sierra shook her head.

'Nope, I saw them with my own eyes. There was tongue and all in that, none-too-little snogging session of theirs.' She confirmed. Hermione gagged.

'Couldn't she do better than Nott?' She asked. The girls laughed.

'I'm sure she could. She has the body to get any guy she wanted.' Pansy answered, laying her palm face down in the air and shaking it sideways, while breathing in quickly. The girls laughed.

'You've seen her Pans?' Ginny asked cheekily. Pansy hit her with a pillow.

'I share a dorm with her idiot. She isn't exactly modest that girl. Gets around a lot too.' She offered by way of explanation.

'Yeah, yeah.' Ginny grinned, ducking again as another pillow came flying across towards her. The rest of the sleepless night was spent laughing, gossiping and mindlessly eating everything in the bowls in front of them.

-

Hermione woke up Sunday morning with cold feet, and to the sound of snores coming from beside her. She pulled her face away from the blankets and pillows separating her and the floor and sat up, looking over the other occupants of the room. She gave a huge yawn and headed towards her room to grab her clothes for today, leaving the girls asleep.

He shower was a quick one, and when she walked back outside, she saw the girls sitting on the pillows and gathering their clothes they had brought to get changed into.

'Did anyone else wake up with bits of lolly on their face, or was that just me?' Ginny asked, peeling an Every Flavour Bean off of her cheek. The others laughed and took it in turns to have a shower and get dressed, while the others ate breakfast.

About an hour later, Draco and the rest of the boys turned up and crashed their breakfast party.

'Did you girls have a good night?' Draco asked, kissing Hermione on the cheek and placing Scorpius on her lap so he could say good morning in his own baby way. Hermione held onto him and cooed down at the boy.

'Did you miss mummy last night?' She asked.

'Did he ever! He started screaming in the middle of the night or his diaper to be changed! I am so glad I brought some with me otherwise we would have been screwed.' Draco recounted, running a hand through his hair. The girls laughed and continued eating.

'It wasn't funny! We didn't get back to sleep for another hour!' Ron complained. This didn't put a stopper on the girls' laughing.

'Did I ever tell you how much I love you, Draco?' Hermione asked, looking up at her boyfriends face and grinning, before giving him a swift kiss before turning back to her son, who looked like he was about to cry.

'No, baby, no crying on mummy today. Are you hungry? Yes, I think you are, I think you are.' She cooed, and moved into the bathroom, where she could feed Scorpius in peace. Draco sat down in her seat and started to eat.

'So, all-in-all, you guys had a good night?' Sierra asked. Draco shot her a look.

'Yes, Sierra, we had the best night ever.' He answered sarcastically. He seemed to be the only boy who had the energy to answer any of the questions. Hermione came back shortly afterwards, and sat on Draco's lap with Scorpius bouncing on her knee.

'What's got you so happy?' He asked. Hermione looked at him confusedly.

'I'm not allowed to be happy once in a while?' She asked. Draco frowned a her.

'Of course you are. The one thing I want on this Earth is for you to be completely happy. But you weren't this happy when you left to feed Scorpius.' He answered. Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes.

'I'm just happy is all. Okay?' She questioned. Draco nodded and kissed her softly.

'I love you.' He muttered. Hermione smiled.

'I love you too.' She murmured back, before kissing him soundly. The heard a voice clear their throat behind them and they turned to face the rest of the table.

'What?' Draco asked. Pansy and Sierra rolled their eyes and the boys smirked.

'Must you do that at the table? When we are eating?' Ginny asked. Draco smirked back at her.

'Yes, that we must.' Draco answered, holding Hermione tightly around the waist and looking down at his son cradled in her arms.

'Aww.' Sierra cooed. 'The perfect little family.' Draco was very tempted to glare at her, but then her heard Hermione laugh lightly.

'Yeah, you could say that.' She whispered. Draco kissed her neck and pushed her up.

'Well, I better go have a shower, because I smell horrible, so I'll see you all in a moment.' He announced. He kissed Hermione soundly, and kissed Scorpius on the head before waving at everyone else and heading towards the bathroom.

Draco's shower didn't take long, and not long after that, the group headed outside to sit under the tree by the lake, and talked the day away.

-

The next weekend, the last of the term, was filled with celebration for most, and nervousness for one. Draco was freaking about what Hermione's parents would say about Scorpius and the engagement. He spent the entire day wringing his hands and zoning off into outer space. Hermione tried many times to calm him down, but all attempts failed.

'Draco, you have to snap out of this! My parents aren't going to kill you or anything! But, we are going to have to face my sisters. They are the ones picking us up. You can even stay outside while I talk to them and explain things. Please, don't make our last weekend together this year a horrible one.' She pleaded. Draco tried after that, but he couldn't get the feeling of nervousness out of his head or body.

On the Sunday night, Hermione tried to take his mind off things.

'Draco,' she moaned. 'Come on, let's take our minds off of things for tonight. Let's forget everything that's happening around us. Just take one night for ourselves. Come on, I gave Scorpius to our friends.' She rubbed her hands up and down his arms as he sat at the desk with his head in his hands.

Draco looked up at her and smiled.

'I need to take my mind off things, don't I?' He asked, sighing. Hermione smiled back at him and nodded. She took his hand and lead him into their bedroom. Draco smiled at her and pulled her forwards into him and claimed her lips. Hermione squeaked a bit in surprise, but soon had her arms wrapped around him and was pulling him closer.

They kicked their shoes off on the way to the bed and fell on top of it, still not breaking their kiss. No problems were on their minds for the rest of the night.

-

The last day of school came with a lot of tears, goodbyes, kisses and hugs from everyone. You could hear everyone saying, "I'll see you again next year," with some denying it and others agreeing. A lot of students weren't coming back because the war was at it's highest.

The group didn't know what they were doing. Some wanted to come back, but others thought it would be a good idea if they stayed back and worked at bettering their combat skills. They decided that they would figure it out during the holidays, together with the rest of the Order.

There was a goodbye feast at the end of the day, with Gryffindor winning the House Cup again, with a margin 100 points between them and Slytherin.

The walk to the carriages was crowded. The fit all eight of them in a carriage, but it was very squashed. Hermione and Draco were on one side with Harry and Sierra, and Ron and Pansy were on the other side with Blaise and Ginny. They laughed and joked the whole way to the train station, and Hermione tried to take Draco's mind off what her family would say about Scorpius. Speaking of the little boy, he was asleep on Sierra's lap, as she had sneaked him out of Draco's arms, and was refusing to give him back until they arrived at Platform 9 ¾'s.

'What are you guys going to do during the holidays? I mean, are you coming to my place first, or Hermione's, or Draco's?' Harry asked. Hermione and Draco looked at each other.

'We are spending a couple of weeks at Hermione's, before going to my place if it's safe, and then coming to Sirius' house.' Draco explained.

'The timeline may vary, depending on my parents, the safety of Draco's house, and whether I can be bothered spending so much time with my horrible sisters.' Hermione added. Harry smiled.

'Don't worry, if the piss you off, you are allowed to come straight back to us.' He responded. Hermione smiled back.

'I know, thanks Harry.' She answered.

The landed at the platform and took all of their belongings onto the train, finding a compartment almost immediately. They stowed away their luggage and sat down, waiting for the train to leave the station.

'Sierra, can I have Scorpius back now?' Hermione asked. Sierra gave her a pouty face.

'Can't I hold him until we get to the platform?' She asked.

'Do you want to change his diapers? He's just about due for a feed too.' She added. Sierra hurriedly gave the sleeping baby boy back to his mother. Hermione smiled cheekily at her.

'He really isn't due to be fed soon, is he?' Sierra asked, and as if on cue, Scorpius woke up and started crying. Hermione laughed.

'Yeah, he is.' She answered.

'Good timing Scorp.' Draco muttered. Hermione shot him a look and walked out of the compartment to find a bathroom to feed Scorpius in.

On the way, she met up with Lavender and Parviti, who covered their ears at the little boy's screaming.

'How can you stand it? What is wrong with him?' They asked. Hermione smiled.

'He's hungry, and you get used to it after a while.' She answered. They walked off, still covering their ears.

Hermione found a bathroom soon after and fed her son and burped him, before making her way back to the compartment, rocking Scorpius so he would go back to sleep. By the time she got back, Scorpius was frustrating her by staying awake and not sleeping. She opened the compartment door and handed Scorpius off to Draco.

'You try and get him to sleep. I can't seem to get him too.' She huffed. Draco took him from her and rocked and bounced him. Scorpius was asleep within minutes. Hermione narrowed her eyes.

'How did you do that?' She asked. Draco grinned.

'Father's touch.' He answered. The others laughed.

The train ride lasted about three to four hours. When the train stopped, they gathered their luggage and exited the carriage. Draco was carrying Scorpius and Hermione was carrying Draco's owl, Cardon.

They stepped through the barrier and out onto the train station at King's Cross and made their way to the entrance.

The Weasley's were waiting for Ginny and Ron, who were bringing Blaise and Pansy with them to stay for a while until they had to go home, and the Weasley's had to go to Grimmauld Place. Sirius and James were waiting at the gate for Harry and Sierra, ready to take them back to Sirius' house.

Hermione and Draco stood around talking with everyone and occasionally shot looks out onto the road to check for Hermione's sisters, Haylee and Casey.

After half an hour of talking, everyone decided that they had to leave. Just as Harry, Sierra, Sirius and James turned the corner, Draco and Hermione saw the twins car drive up and beep the horn at them. Hermione sighed and Draco put his arm around her.

'One adventure over.' He commented as they walked towards the car.

'And another begins.' Hermione finished.

**THE END (or is it?)**

**A/N: And here are the reviewers!**

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**Thank you to everyone for sticking with me and look out for the sequel! Until next time!**

**Sarah xo. **


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